Show Us Your Rig: FTL composer Ben Prunty

Composer Ben Prunty created the soundtrack to FTL: Faster Than Light (and the new music in FTL: Advanced Edition ). He worked on music for Gravity Ghost and StarCrawlers , too. He's also a PC gamer, which means he has to maintain both a music rig and a gaming rig—two very different beasts. So I asked him to show us both setups, and tell us how he approaches PC gaming in the living room and what his favorite games are.

I also asked him to teach me how to play the banjo, but he didn't respond to that part.

What's in your PC?

Both my work PC and my gaming PC are custom built by me. I love building my own rig. The two machines have a lot of the same hardware, because I built them around the same time:

• Motherboard – Asus Sabertooth z77
• CPU – 3.4Ghz Intel Core i7
• Heatsink – Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus
• HDD – Two 1TB Seagate Barracudas
• Memory – 16Gb G.Skill Ripjaws X Series
• Video – Gaming rig: GeForce GTX560 (it's about time to upgrade!) Music rig: MSI Radeon HD 6570 (nothing fancy.)
• Power Supply – PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II
• Case – Gaming rig: Cooler Master HAF 912, Music Rig: Fractal Design R4. This case has foam padding to keep it quiet. Perfect for a studio environment.

The music rig has a Komplete Audio 6 audio interface hooked up to it, along with those big studio speakers and a Novation Launchkey 49 MIDI controller. For more information on my music hardware, check out my blog .

What's the most interesting part of your setup?

Possibly that I have two rigs! This helps keep work separated from play; it's very hard for me to get distracted when I'm in the studio. The PCs themselves are pretty straightforward. I have my gaming rig hooked up to my TV and stereo so I can switch to couch gaming seamlessly, which I take advantage of often.

What's on your desk?

My banjo picks and tuner tend to always be at my gaming desk. You never know when you're going to spontaneously play the banjo. You can see I have a couple Mario figures on my speakers, but in general I hate having stuff on my desk.

What are you playing right now?

Right now my time is divided between Titanfall, Nuclear Throne and the first Dark Souls. Life is good.

What's your favorite game and why?

My favorite PC game is possibly System Shock 2, though the original DOOM or Half-Life 2 is pretty close. System Shock 2 was just a mesmerizing and deep experience, filled with tough decisions and free form exploration. I think it has more in common with the classic Ultima Underworld than most people realize. Plus I just love space horror.