Bendy and the Ink Machine Music Puzzle: Full Solution

How to Solve the Chapter 2 Music Puzzle

A locked sanctuary and a running projector stand between Henry and the next valve. To solve the Bendy and the Ink Machine music puzzle, find Sammy’s tape, note its four-instrument sequence, and play that order while the projector runs. The Bendy and the Ink Machine music puzzle changes its instrument order between playthroughs, so your own tape supplies the answer.

You encounter this puzzle in Chapter 2: The Old Song, inside the Music Department. Opening Sammy’s sanctuary is part of draining the flooded stairwell and reaching the pump controls.

Here’s the route through the puzzle:

1. Find Wally Franks’ keys in a garbage can.
2. Unlock the closet beside Sammy’s office and listen to Sammy’s recording.
3. Write down the four instruments in the order he names them.
4. Activate the projector upstairs in the Recording Studio.
5. Run downstairs and play the sequence before the projector shuts off.
6. Enter the sanctuary and turn the valve.

Area	Objective	Key item or result
Music Department	Search garbage cans	Wally Franks’ keys
Closet beside Sammy’s office	Listen to Sammy’s tape	Four-instrument sequence
Upstairs projection booth	Turn on the projector	Active window for the performance
Recording Studio floor	Play the correct sequence	Sanctuary gate opens
Sanctuary	Activate the valve	Objective to find the second valve

Check your objective before attempting the performance. Playing instruments with the projector running has no effect before you unlock the sanctuary objective. If you have explored the studio but haven’t opened Wally’s closet, finish that step first.

Official page: Bendy and the Ink Machine (joeydrewstudios.com)

Music Department: Find Wally’s Keys and Open the Closet

The setup begins around the flooded stairwell. Activate the nearby Power switch to restore electricity to the Music Department, then deal with the Searchers that appear. Your axe can defeat these Searchers with one hit each.

Image: Steam / Joey Drew Studios

After the attack, the gate on the right opens and the Recording sign lights up. Follow that route toward Sammy’s office. Ink blocks the office entrance, and a locked closet sits nearby.

Follow Wally’s Missing-Key Clue

1. Listen to Wally Franks’ recording in front of Sammy’s office.
2. Search the garbage cans around the accessible area.
3. Pick up his keys when you find them.
4. Return to the locked closet beside the office.
5. Unlock it and listen to Sammy’s tape inside.

The keys have a randomized location. Search the cans themselves rather than relying on a particular room or a remembered location from an earlier run.

Keep track of the cans you have already checked. Work through the rooms in a consistent direction to avoid circling back through the same spaces while leaving another corner untouched.

The closet contains Bacon Soup as well as the recording you need. Listen through the instrument section carefully: it gives you the combination for the Bendy and the Ink Machine music puzzle.

Before leaving, check that you have:

• Listened to Sammy’s sanctuary recording.
• Written down all four instrument mentions.
• Preserved any repeated instrument in your notes.
• Collected the closet’s Bacon Soup if you’re pursuing collectibles.

Don’t mistake Wally’s missing-key recording for the musical clue. Wally points you toward the keys; Sammy supplies the sequence.

Recording Studio: Decode Sammy’s Favorite Song

Sammy’s tape describes his private sanctuary and the song required to enter it. The important section names four instruments in sequence, selected from the five instruments available in the Recording Studio.

Image: Steam / Joey Drew Studios

The possible instruments are:

• Banjo
• Bass fiddle
• Drum
• Piano
• Violin

An instrument can appear twice in the sequence. If Sammy names the piano, then names it again later, include both appearances in their respective positions.

Turn the Spoken Clue Into a Short Checklist

For the Bendy and the Ink Machine music puzzle, write only the instrument names, separated by arrows. This keeps the instructions easy to read when you’re moving between instruments.

For example, if your recording names banjo, piano, violin, then piano, your notes should read:

Banjo → Piano → Violin → Piano

That is an illustration of how to record the clue. Use the sequence spoken on your own tape.

Instrument named	Clue language to recognize	What to record
Banjo	Plucking or strumming	Banjo
Bass fiddle	Deep singing or a returning bass fiddle	Bass fiddle
Drum	Thundering or echoing	Drum
Piano	A delicate call or returning harmony	Piano
Violin	A piercing voice or another scream	Violin

The descriptive wording adds atmosphere, but the instrument names tell you where to interact. Reduce each line to its instrument before starting your attempt.

Learn the Room Before Starting the Timer

All five puzzle instruments are downstairs in the Recording Studio. The projector is upstairs in the projection booth.

Walk around the studio floor and identify the instruments your sequence uses. Then trace your route from the upstairs booth to the first instrument and onward through the remaining entries.

For the Bendy and the Ink Machine music puzzle, preparation saves you from having to recognize an instrument while the projector is already running. Keep your written order visible and pay particular attention to any instrument that appears twice.

Norman Polk’s recording, located upstairs near the projector, provides the other half of the clue: Sammy would activate the projector and then go downstairs to play instruments. You need both that setup and Sammy’s song to open the gate.

Projection Booth: Activate the Projector and Play the Sequence

Once you have the sanctuary objective and know the four-instrument order, return upstairs to the projector.

Image: Steam / Joey Drew Studios

Finish the entire sequence before the projector turns off. Knowing the correct instruments won’t open the sanctuary if you complete the performance outside that active window.

Optional Achievement: Prepare “Strike Up The Band”

If you want Strike Up The Band, handle its setup before completing the puzzle.

In versions 1.5.0.0 and 1.5.1.0, the achievement requires activating the projector nine times before solving the musical puzzle. These activations add Bendy cutouts to the stage, visible from the upstairs booth.

Check for nine cutouts: five in front and four behind. Once they are all present, solve the puzzle to unlock the achievement.

Keep this separate from the normal solution: the repeated projector activations are the achievement setup. Opening the sanctuary requires the correct performance while the projector runs.

Perform Sammy’s Song

1. Go upstairs to the projection booth. Have the four-instrument order ready before interacting with the projector.
2. Turn on the projector. This begins the window for your attempt.
3. Run downstairs. Head straight toward the first instrument in your notes.
4. Play the four entries in order. Include repeated instruments exactly where Sammy names them.
5. Check the sanctuary gate. A successful performance opens the route.

Part of the solution	Required action
Objective	Unlock “Find Sammy’s Sanctuary” by progressing through the closet clue
Combination	Follow the four instrument mentions on Sammy’s tape, in order
Projector	Activate it upstairs before playing
Timing	Complete the sequence before the projector turns off
Result	The gate to Sammy’s sanctuary opens

The Bendy and the Ink Machine music puzzle asks you to reproduce an ordered sequence of instrument interactions. Focus on moving through your notes cleanly.

Avoid testing unrelated instruments during the timed attempt. Locate everything beforehand, start the projector, and follow the sequence you wrote down.

If the projector shuts off before you finish, return upstairs and begin another attempt with a fresh activation. Recheck the route if you repeatedly lose time between the same two instruments.

Sammy’s Sanctuary: Claim Progress and Fix Failed Attempts

When the gate opens, enter Sammy’s sanctuary and follow the hall to the valve at the bottom. Activate it to advance to Find the Second Valve.

Solving the musical puzzle also fulfills the My Favorite Song achievement requirement. The sanctuary valve moves the chapter forward, but you still have more work to do before the stairwell is drained.

If the Sanctuary Gate Stays Closed

Check the setup, sequence, and timing before trying again. Each is necessary for the Bendy and the Ink Machine music puzzle.

What happened	What to check	Next action
Playing instruments has no effect	Sanctuary objective is unlocked	Open Wally’s closet and listen to Sammy’s tape
A sequence copied from another playthrough fails	Your tape’s instrument order	Write down the combination from your current run
You used each instrument only once	Repeated instrument mentions	Restore the repeated entry in its correct position
You finished after the projector stopped	Performance timing	Reactivate the projector and take a direct route downstairs
Wally’s closet is still locked	Whether you collected his keys	Continue searching garbage cans

Replay Sammy’s tape if your notes contain fewer than four entries or you’re unsure about their order. Another listen is more useful than repeatedly testing a sequence you might have misheard.

Keep your attention on the four positions. A repeated instrument belongs wherever it appears in the recording, even when another instrument separates its two mentions.

Continue Toward the Pump Controls

After turning the sanctuary valve:

1. Leave the sanctuary and head toward the Infirmary.
2. Survive the Searcher attack along the way.
3. Inspect the pipe where the second valve should be.
4. Pull the utility access lever and descend into the sewers.

The missing valve leads you to Swollen Jack. Recovering it and turning the second valve allows you to return to Sammy’s office and activate the pump control.

For the music puzzle itself, the finish line is clear: play Sammy’s sequence with the projector running, enter the opened sanctuary, and turn its valve.

FAQ

What is the correct Bendy and the Ink Machine music puzzle order?

The order is randomized between playthroughs. Listen to Sammy’s tape inside the locked closet beside his office and write down the four instruments he names. Play them in that exact order while the upstairs projector is running.

Where are Wally Franks’ keys?

They are inside one of the garbage cans around the chapter’s accessible area. Their location is randomized, so search the cans until you find them, then return to the closet beside Sammy’s office.

Can the same instrument appear twice in Sammy’s song?

Yes. An instrument can be named a second time. Keep both mentions in your four-entry sequence and play that instrument at each corresponding position.

What do you get for solving the music puzzle?

The sanctuary gate opens, and solving the puzzle fulfills the My Favorite Song achievement requirement. Enter the sanctuary and activate its valve to receive the objective to find the second valve.