The Music of The Séance of Blake Manor
[p]Hello detectives, [/p][p]Creating the perfect atmosphere for the supernatural happenings at a mysterious, remote hotel was shaped by the fantastic music composer, Clement Panchout. [/p][p][/p][p]![]()
[/p][p]Clement discusses the key considerations and inspirations in making the music of The Séance of Blake Manor. [/p]
- [p]Q: How would you describe the music of The Séance of Blake Manor?[/p]
- [p]The soundtrack is all about atmosphere and immersion. At its core it’s ambient-orchestral, with a strong gothic and Victorian influence. You hear a lot of strings, piano, and textures that creak and resonate, almost like the manor itself. I also worked with a granular sound approach, subtle sound design, and sometimes a few modern touches (a distorted synth here, a pulsing beat there) to make you feel something is wrong. The cello is really at the center of the music. It’s one of my favorite instruments and here it became the backbone. Sometimes it is lyrical, sometimes more screeching. The piano is also a key element, often detuned or processed to make it slightly unsettling. Together they carry the gothic weight of the story.
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- [p]Q: Music really helps to enhance atmosphere; how did you make the music fit so well with the game? [/p]
- [p]I was lucky to get access to the game very early in development. Walking through the manor, even in an unfinished state, helped me see how the music should breathe with the environment. I also read some of the team’s conversations and reference material. Even if those were not directly for me, they gave me a lot of clues about the mood and the kind of mystery they wanted to create. From a technical point of view, we worked in layers. I delivered different variations of the same track with different moods, and these could be combined or crossfaded in FMOD. That makes the soundtrack dynamic. It changes depending on where you are and what is happening, almost like the music is another character in the game. [/p][p][/p]
- [p]What were your most important considerations for the soundtrack of the game? [/p]
- [p]The first thing was to stay true to the gothic setting and the late Victorian era. That’s why I used strings and piano, which feel natural for that period. The game is full of occult symbols and spiritism, so I added small modern touches to twist things around: a detuned layer that evolves slowly, a texture that feels like whispers or a slight crunchy distortion that gives the impression of insects crawling in the dark. Another big focus for me was depth. I love using delays and reverbs to create a kind of vertigo, like endless corridors going into the shadows. I wanted every pad or drone to feel alive and always moving, so the player never feels completely safe.
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- [p]What were your inspirations for the music for The Séance of Blake Manor? [/p]
- [p]I took a lot of inspiration from games I love, my classics: Diablo, Fallout, Bioshock, but movies as well. I also added touches of classical music, and post-rock!
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- [p]Do you have a favourite piece of music from the game? [/p]
- [p]Yes, the music at the very end, during the reveal. Without giving anything away, I played a lot with paradoxes in that spot: gravity versus lightness, heavy bass versus soaring piano melody. It creates a tension between being pulled down and lifted up at the same time. For me, as a player, this moment is really charged with latent intensity. It feels like everything comes together musically and emotionally at that precise moment. [/p]