These are the last blog post I will ask you to write…

1. Blog: Your final project, if you have not be able to.
2. Blog: Write about your memories from this course. What did you learn? What will you remember? What was useful? Was this a unique experience? Post pictures.
3. Blog: Thank Benjamin Prunty :D

What were you doing in Highschool, and what did you do in college?
[10:30:50] Benjamin: In high school I was struggling to get decent grades, and playing a lot of videogames like Final Fantasy and Quake. Near the end of high school I got some music-making software and started tinkering with it. I had no formal training, so I was just winging it the whole time. Most of the stuff I made wasn't very good. :D
[10:30:57] sherol: haha.. nice
[10:31:53] Benjamin:  I went to college for audio engineering, which in this case was recording local bands in a studio. Meanwhile I spent many hours in my dorm room with a synthesizer and drum machine trying to figure out how to make electronic music. Again, I had no teacher to help with this specifically, though the audio engineering certainly helped.
[10:32:01] sherol: When you compose, do you use piano/instruments more or or digital
[10:32:26] sherol: compose on real instruments or digitally
[10:33:03] Benjamin: I'm almost entirely digital. Everything I do is in software. I can play piano and banjo bit and I'm currently teaching myself to play electric guitar.
[10:33:55] sherol: do you ever record yourself playing a real instrument to put in a game?
[10:35:06] Benjamin: I've started to record guitar parts occasionally and I've recorded acoustic drum parts for some things, but it's fairly minimal.
[10:35:24] Benjamin: I'm trying to incorporate more and more real instruments as I go.
[10:35:47] sherol: Our student, Jack organized a Shanghai student music festival. They did had it few days ago.
[10:36:07] Benjamin: Wow, awesome!
[10:36:21] Benjamin: I never did anything that cool when I was in school.
[10:36:25] sherol: mostly it was like rock and punk music.. Some metal.
[10:36:31] sherol: He plays bass
[10:36:38] sherol: another student, Bran was the vocalist
[10:36:55] sherol: I'm telling them all to play FTL, they would love it.
[10:37:12] Benjamin: :D
[10:37:20] sherol: Do you have to work on Sound effects and music?
[10:37:47] Benjamin: I did both sound effects and music on earlier projects like FTL and Gravity Ghost, but these days I'm just a music guy.
[10:38:07] Benjamin: I can send a picture of my studio if you think you guys can receive it okay.
[10:38:13] sherol: ok
[10:38:31] sherol: can you over skype?
[10:38:39] sherol: it seems to be working
[10:38:45] Benjamin: Cool.
[10:38:56] sherol: Mike asks, he wants to do electronic music. Where can he start?
[10:40:47] Benjamin: That's a good question. I don't know what software is available in your region, but the first thing you need is a computer and a digital audio workstation, which is software. Most of the nice ones have an entry level version that's relatively cheap.
[10:40:58] sherol: How do you teach yourself to play guitar?... how do you overcome the difficulties to get better at it?
[10:41:20] sherol: (sorry.. i realized you are still answering the last question)
[10:42:13] Benjamin: Check out Ableton, FL Studio, or Cubase. Maybe also get a small USB musical keyboard to go with it. This will be a good start. You'll also need a solid understanding of music theory and the time to train yourself to use the software.
[10:42:37] sherol: They use FL Studio
[10:42:43] sherol: they said
[10:42:43] Benjamin: Yeah, perfect.
[10:44:53] Benjamin: As for teaching myself guitar: I have a couple of books on guitar, plus I simply find sheet music of songs that I like and practice that. My music theory knowledge makes transitioning to a new instrument just a little bit quicker. There's also a great game called Rocksmith that I use all the time. I don't know if you guys have played Guitar Hero or Rock Band, but it's like that but with a real guitar, with lessons and everything.
[10:45:28] Benjamin: It's REALLY hard to stick with an instrument. I'm incredibly lazy. So self-discipline is probably the hardest part of learning guitar for me. :D
[10:46:29] sherol: Who's your favorite game composer?
[10:48:17] Benjamin: My favorite soundtrack ever is for EarthBound, so I guess that would make my favorite composer Keiichi Suzuki. Jesper Kyd (Assassin's Creed, MDK2) was a also a huge inspiration when I was starting out.
[10:48:50] sherol: Do you do orchestra music ever?.. or what style?
[10:51:02] Benjamin: I've made  exactly two orchestra pieces, entirely in software. I could theoretically write music for orchestra, since I can read and write sheet music and have a rough understanding of how an orchestra works. But it's really not my forte. My influences are on the pop/rock/funk/electronic side.
[10:51:13] Benjamin: I hope to do more orchestra work someday though.
[10:51:26] sherol: Cool
[10:51:40] sherol: Where do you get ideas
[10:52:06] sherol: is it when you are walking or taking a shower?
[10:52:13] Benjamin: Sometimes, yes!
[10:52:20] Benjamin: Or driving.
[10:52:54] Benjamin: Or watching a movie or talking with someone. Really, ideas can happen any time.
[10:53:20] Benjamin: The ideas are not as useful as just experimenting with chord progressions and melodies though.
[10:53:22] sherol: do you start with notes or beats?
[10:53:57] Benjamin: Generally I start with either a chord progression or some kind of rhythm part.
[10:55:06] sherol: ok... We are gonna try to skype you and say goodbye!
[10:55:43] Benjamin: Okay!
[10:55:46] sherol: Thank you so much!
[10:56:00] sherol: We are all interested and greatful :)
[10:56:05] *** Call to Benjamin Prunty ***
[11:01:02] *** Call ended, duration 04:53 ***
[11:01:17] Benjamin: That was awesome! Thanks everyone.