[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":305},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fs8rK3Hc_gacwJPVb_sWJRwSfUtf0f4d-a7MVkNKJEjk":3},{"seo":4,"slug":9,"title":10,"releaseDate":11,"heroTitleFormatted":12,"heroAsset":13,"author":30,"flexibleModules":32},{"title":5,"description":6,"image":7},"Netflix Tudum Sound: How It Was Made","The story behind Netflix's ta-dum: who made it, what it's made of, Hans Zimmer's cinema version, and what it shows about building a sonic logo.",{"url":8},"https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190434-netflix-logo-tv-dark-room-thibault-penin-unsplash.jpg?fit=clamp&h=630&w=1200","netflix-tudum-sonic-logo","Tudum: How Netflix Made the Most Famous Sound in Streaming","2026-10-28","",{"isVideo":14,"videoHeight":15,"videoUrl":12,"videoWidth":16,"image":17},false,900,1600,{"width":18,"height":19,"url":20,"alt":21,"title":22,"responsiveImage":23},1920,1282,"https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190434-netflix-logo-tv-dark-room-thibault-penin-unsplash.jpg","A television showing the Netflix logo in a dark room lit red","Photo: Thibault Penin on Unsplash",{"webpSrcSet":24,"srcSet":25,"src":26,"width":27,"height":28,"sizes":29},"https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190434-netflix-logo-tv-dark-room-thibault-penin-unsplash.jpg?dpr=0.25&fit=crop&fm=webp&h=1707&w=2880 720w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190434-netflix-logo-tv-dark-room-thibault-penin-unsplash.jpg?dpr=0.5&fit=crop&fm=webp&h=1707&w=2880 1440w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190434-netflix-logo-tv-dark-room-thibault-penin-unsplash.jpg?fit=crop&fm=webp&h=1707&w=2880 2880w","https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190434-netflix-logo-tv-dark-room-thibault-penin-unsplash.jpg?dpr=0.25&fit=crop&h=1707&w=2880 720w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190434-netflix-logo-tv-dark-room-thibault-penin-unsplash.jpg?dpr=0.5&fit=crop&h=1707&w=2880 1440w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190434-netflix-logo-tv-dark-room-thibault-penin-unsplash.jpg?fit=crop&h=1707&w=2880 2880w","https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190434-netflix-logo-tv-dark-room-thibault-penin-unsplash.jpg?fit=crop&h=1707&w=2880",2880,1707,"(max-width: 2880px) 100vw, 2880px",{"name":31},"Molecular Sound",[33,64,92,107,126,141,160,175,190,243,287],{"_modelApiKey":34,"title":12,"copy":35,"asset":52},"module_title_copy_asset",{"value":36,"links":51},{"schema":37,"document":38},"dast",{"type":39,"children":40},"root",[41,47],{"type":42,"children":43},"paragraph",[44],{"type":45,"value":46},"span","The Netflix \"ta-dum\", which Netflix calls TUDUM, was created by Oscar-winning sound designer Lon Bender and introduced in 2015. The knocks are his wedding ring tapped on a cabinet, a slowed-down anvil adds weight, and the swell at the end is a reversed electric guitar. It took about a year of versions to get there.",{"type":42,"children":48},[49],{"type":45,"value":50},"It lasts around three seconds. It's also one of the best examples of a sonic logo built to do a specific job.",[],{"isVideo":14,"videoHeight":15,"videoUrl":12,"videoWidth":16,"image":53},{"width":18,"height":19,"url":54,"alt":55,"title":56,"responsiveImage":57},"https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg","Over-the-shoulder view of a person holding a tablet showing Netflix, with a TV in the background","Photo: CardMapr.nl on Unsplash",{"webpSrcSet":58,"srcSet":59,"src":60,"width":61,"height":62,"sizes":63},"https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg?dpr=0.25&fit=crop&fm=webp&w=670 167w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg?dpr=0.5&fit=crop&fm=webp&w=670 335w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg?dpr=0.75&fit=crop&fm=webp&w=670 502w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg?fit=crop&fm=webp&w=670 670w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg?dpr=1.5&fit=crop&fm=webp&w=670 1005w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg?dpr=2&fit=crop&fm=webp&w=670 1340w","https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg?dpr=0.25&fit=crop&w=670 167w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg?dpr=0.5&fit=crop&w=670 335w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg?dpr=0.75&fit=crop&w=670 502w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg?fit=crop&w=670 670w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg?dpr=1.5&fit=crop&w=670 1005w,https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg?dpr=2&fit=crop&w=670 1340w","https://www.datocms-assets.com/153319/1793190435-person-watching-netflix-cardmapr-unsplash.jpg?fit=crop&w=670",670,447,"(max-width: 670px) 100vw, 670px",{"_modelApiKey":34,"title":65,"copy":66,"asset":91},"Key takeaways",{"value":67,"links":90},{"schema":37,"document":68},{"type":39,"children":69},[70,74,78,82,86],{"type":42,"children":71},[72],{"type":45,"value":73},"Netflix asked for something short, cinematic and built on tension and release. It didn't want anything that sounded like a games console booting up.",{"type":42,"children":75},[76],{"type":45,"value":77},"The sound is made from everyday materials: a ring on wood, an anvil and a guitar played backwards.",{"type":42,"children":79},[80],{"type":45,"value":81},"The final choice came from 20 to 30 options and a blind test in which the word most people associated with the winner was \"movie\".",{"type":42,"children":83},[84],{"type":45,"value":85},"Hans Zimmer wrote a 16-second version for cinemas, first heard at the Venice Film Festival before Roma in 2018.",{"type":42,"children":87},[88],{"type":45,"value":89},"Even a sound this famous isn't instantly recognised by everyone. In 2020, 24% of US listeners named Netflix from the sound alone.",[],null,{"_modelApiKey":34,"title":93,"copy":94,"asset":91},"The brief",{"value":95,"links":106},{"schema":37,"document":96},{"type":39,"children":97},[98,102],{"type":42,"children":99},[100],{"type":45,"value":101},"The project was led by Todd Yellin, who runs Netflix's product experience. He wanted it to feel like the cinema. Technology was the wrong reference. The other constraint was time: people pressing play want to get to the show, so it had to be very short and still feel complete.",{"type":42,"children":103},[104],{"type":45,"value":105},"Tension and release is a lot to ask of three seconds. Most of the craft is in the timing.",[],{"_modelApiKey":34,"title":108,"copy":109,"asset":91},"What it's made of",{"value":110,"links":125},{"schema":37,"document":111},{"type":39,"children":112},[113,117,121],{"type":42,"children":114},[115],{"type":45,"value":116},"According to the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast, which interviewed the people involved, the two knocks are Bender's wedding ring tapped on a cabinet. A slowed-down anvil sits underneath for weight, with extra muted hits for punch.",{"type":42,"children":118},[119],{"type":45,"value":120},"The bloom that follows came from a reversed electric guitar recording by Charlie Campagna, made years earlier. It's what turns two knocks into an arrival.",{"type":42,"children":122},[123],{"type":45,"value":124},"None of it is exotic. It's ordinary sounds chosen carefully, layered and timed until they feel inevitable. That's how most good sonic logos are made.",[],{"_modelApiKey":34,"title":127,"copy":128,"asset":91},"How they chose it",{"value":129,"links":140},{"schema":37,"document":130},{"type":39,"children":131},[132,136],{"type":42,"children":133},[134],{"type":45,"value":135},"Bender delivered somewhere between 20 and 30 options over about a year, including a version with a goat in it that didn't make the cut. Netflix tested the shortlist with a blind word-association exercise. For the winner, the most common word was \"movie\", which was exactly the brief.",{"type":42,"children":137},[138],{"type":45,"value":139},"The final pick from the top five was reportedly made by Yellin's ten-year-old daughter. You can read that as a fun detail, or as a reminder that the audience is not the boardroom.",[],{"_modelApiKey":34,"title":142,"copy":143,"asset":91},"The long version",{"value":144,"links":159},{"schema":37,"document":145},{"type":39,"children":146},[147,151,155],{"type":42,"children":148},[149],{"type":45,"value":150},"A three-second sound before a feature film in a cinema felt too abrupt. Netflix's brand design lead, Tanya Kumar, led a project to extend it, and Hans Zimmer, who had worked with Netflix on The Crown, wrote a 16-second orchestral version that builds with strings and percussion and resolves into the original.",{"type":42,"children":152},[153],{"type":45,"value":154},"It premiered at the Venice Film Festival before Alfonso Cuarón's Roma in 2018 and has played before other Netflix films in cinemas since. Most people only discovered it in 2020, when it went viral.",{"type":42,"children":156},[157],{"type":45,"value":158},"This is the part brands tend to miss. The sonic logo stayed the same. It just got a version for a new context.",[],{"_modelApiKey":34,"title":161,"copy":162,"asset":91},"How Netflix uses it",{"value":163,"links":174},{"schema":37,"document":164},{"type":39,"children":165},[166,170],{"type":42,"children":167},[168],{"type":45,"value":169},"Netflix describes TUDUM as the first beat you hear when you watch something on the service. It plays with the N animation before and after shows and films. When Netflix introduced its new ident in 2019, the N breaking into ribbons of colour, the visual changed and the sound was kept.",{"type":42,"children":171},[172],{"type":45,"value":173},"Netflix has since named its global fan event and its editorial site Tudum. When a company starts naming things after its sonic logo, the sound has become part of the brand.",[],{"_modelApiKey":34,"title":176,"copy":177,"asset":91},"The numbers are a useful reality check",{"value":178,"links":189},{"schema":37,"document":179},{"type":39,"children":180},[181,185],{"type":42,"children":182},[183],{"type":45,"value":184},"In Veritonic's 2020 audio logo index, Netflix had an audio score of 72 in the US and 69 in the UK. But only 24% of US listeners and 34% in the UK correctly named the brand from the sound alone.",{"type":42,"children":186},[187],{"type":45,"value":188},"That's one of the most played sounds in the world. Recognition isn't automatic. It's earned by playing the same sound, in the same moment, every single time.",[],{"_modelApiKey":34,"title":191,"copy":192,"asset":239},"What any brand can take from it",{"value":193,"links":238},{"schema":37,"document":194},{"type":39,"children":195},[196,200,204,208,227],{"type":42,"children":197},[198],{"type":45,"value":199},"Write a brief that says what the sound is for and where it plays. Netflix's was short, cinematic and in front of a show.",{"type":42,"children":201},[202],{"type":45,"value":203},"Build it from real sounds. The ring on wood is part of why it feels physical rather than digital.",{"type":42,"children":205},[206],{"type":45,"value":207},"Make versions for new contexts. Zimmer's cinema cut works because it ends on the sound everyone already knows.",{"type":42,"children":209},[210,212,218,220,225],{"type":45,"value":211},"And use it every time. The sound is only famous because Netflix never skips it. We've written more on this in ",{"url":213,"type":214,"children":215},"https://www.molecularsound.com/blog/why-your-sonic-logo-is-the-least-interesting-thing-about-your-sonic-brand","link",[216],{"type":45,"value":217},"why your sonic logo is the least interesting thing about your sonic brand",{"type":45,"value":219},". Listen to the full story on ",{"url":221,"type":214,"children":222},"https://www.20k.org/episodes/netflix",[223],{"type":45,"value":224},"Twenty Thousand Hertz",{"type":45,"value":226},".",{"type":42,"children":228},[229,231,236],{"type":45,"value":230},"The film here shows the same thinking in our own work. The ",{"url":232,"type":214,"children":233},"https://www.molecularsound.com/work/huel",[234],{"type":45,"value":235},"Huel sonic logo",{"type":45,"value":237}," is two whispered notes in B flat minor, built for one job and kept short on purpose.",[],{"isVideo":240,"videoHeight":241,"videoUrl":242,"videoWidth":18,"image":91},true,1080,"https://player.vimeo.com/progressive_redirect/playback/820464834/rendition/2160p/file.mp4?loc=external&log_user=0&signature=bd810298a919be619206baf962e2e32146af7c6b652a4e63108b64de1a4e62b8",{"_modelApiKey":34,"title":244,"copy":245,"asset":91},"Frequently asked questions",{"value":246,"links":286},{"schema":37,"document":247},{"type":39,"children":248},[249,255,259,264,268,273,277,282],{"type":42,"children":250},[251],{"type":45,"marks":252,"value":254},[253],"strong","Who made the Netflix ta-dum sound?",{"type":42,"children":256},[257],{"type":45,"value":258},"Sound designer Lon Bender, who won an Oscar for his sound effects editing on Braveheart. It was introduced in 2015.",{"type":42,"children":260},[261],{"type":45,"marks":262,"value":263},[253],"What is the Netflix sound made of?",{"type":42,"children":265},[266],{"type":45,"value":267},"A wedding ring tapped on a cabinet, a slowed-down anvil, extra muted hits and a reversed electric guitar recording.",{"type":42,"children":269},[270],{"type":45,"marks":271,"value":272},[253],"What is the Netflix sound called?",{"type":42,"children":274},[275],{"type":45,"value":276},"Netflix calls it TUDUM, and has named its fan event and editorial site after it.",{"type":42,"children":278},[279],{"type":45,"marks":280,"value":281},[253],"Did Hans Zimmer make the Netflix sound?",{"type":42,"children":283},[284],{"type":45,"value":285},"He wrote the 16-second cinema version, first heard in 2018. The original short sound is by Lon Bender.",[],{"_modelApiKey":34,"title":288,"copy":289,"asset":91},"Talk to us",{"value":290,"links":304},{"schema":37,"document":291},{"type":39,"children":292},[293],{"type":42,"children":294},[295,297,302],{"type":45,"value":296},"Working out what your brand should sound like? ",{"url":298,"type":214,"children":299},"https://www.molecularsound.com/contact",[300],{"type":45,"value":301},"Speak to the team",{"type":45,"value":303}," and let's get in the studio.",[],1793202156184]