Theta Sound Studio Celebrates 36 Years with Launch of Totally New Multimedia Web Site

Nov. 5, 2013 - PRLog -- In a music industry that has manifested more highs and lows in the last 35 years than virtually any other entertainment endeavor, it's a wonder there are any recording studios still standing, let alone producing stellar products. Theta Sound Studio, established in the fall of 1977 by songwriter, composer, producer, engineer Randall Michael Tobin, is still going strong. The only neglected area had been the studio's web site, first launched in 1995, which had grown quite long in the.tooth. A complete redesign was needed--not an easy undertaking for any company, especially one in business over 35 years.

That opportunity came shortly before the studio's 36th Anniversary BBQ and Musical Feast, an annual event held since 1980 in support of local talent. Randall Michael Tobin decided to use the event deadline as an incentive to "get it done" and the web site was officially launched on September 28th, 2013. Guests of the BBQ were treated to an overview of the site by its designer (there's over two hours of interactive content), and it was pointed out that http://ThetaSound.com is now fully "responsive," meaning, it works correctly on desktop, tablet and phone products that have a live internet connection.

"This was the most challenging web design assignment I've worked on to date," said Randall after putting about 200 hours into the project. "I knew it was going to take some time, but once I got into the nooks and crannies of each section of the site, I realized I had photos, text. music and videos that could serve the stories better than what we had before. Also, I had to take 35+ years of clients, projects, testimonials, gear and live events, and pare that mountain down into a handlful of categories that would best communicate what we do. For example, we have 16 Galleries including 'Jazz / Traditional Pop,' 'Classical and Opera,' 'Singer / Songwriter,' 'Musical Theater / Cabaret,' 'Religious Music,' and other genres. But Theta Sound does much more than music, so there are Galleries for 'Video Production,' 'Web Site Design,' 'Voice-over / Narration,' 'Awards and Recognition' and so on."

Upon noticing a few Galleries that don't fall into any of the above, we asked Mr. Tobin to explain: "Oh, yes... Making art is all about artists, so I created some Galleries that have a theme, like 'The Younger Set,' which features photos and captions of several of our young artists and groups, and 'Funny Business,' which has some very amusing moments in the history of Theta Sound (like Dick van Dyke coming by to do a Rap song for a TV show!)."

The Gallery section, which appears near the bottom of the home page, is but one part of this comprehensive online presence. Near the top is the Studio Spotlight section with feature articles about Theta Sound's clients and their projects (Traditional Pop legend, Mel Carter, being one of them). And to the right of that is a mini-calendar of Live, In-Studio Events. At the time of this writing, Folk icon Art Podell was scheduled to appear for a live concert recording session with an invited audience.

"We've hosted live, in-studio performances since the early 90s, in what we like to call a Theta Sound Coffee House," notes Randall. "We're carrying on the tradtion that fostered some of the greatest music of all time back in the folk era. This format allows a select, invited audience to experience music in an intimate setting." The Theta Sound Coffee House Gallery chronicles the timeline of this series.

The next section, Theta Sounds, is almost like entering another room and features music samples from various artists, all recorded, mixed and/or produced by Randall Michael Tobin. Visitors can listen in sequence, or choose which sample to hear. The Music Store below the audio player has one album showing with an "opening soon" sign, indicating things to come.

What's left after exploring the extensive offerings on the Home page? Plenty! Across the top and bottom of the site are Navigation Bars which will take you to sections that require their own dedicated pages. The Kudos page of client testimonials is impressive as well as fun to read. One such Kudo comes from a five-year old girl who attended a field trip to Theta Sound (a free service available to local schools and youth groups like Scouts). In her own writing, she raves about how much fun it was "making sounds" in the studio.

The Tour page is a virtual walk-through of the spaces inside Theta Sound Studio. It gives one an idea of the layout and features of the various rooms, as well as a look at our unique Mug Club. The page that outlines what Theta Sound and its staff can do for its clients is aptly named Services. For a recording studio, the list of services goes well beyond recording in a room. Randall recalls, "I had a few less-than-stellar experiences when farming out graphic design and video work to others, so I took those jobs on myself. Fortunately, I have many years of experience in those areas and our clients are very happy with the results. Also, by offering all of these services to our clients, they can be assured the quality, from recording, mixing and mastering, to package design, duplication, video production and web design, will be consistent from start to finish--a One Stop Shop so to speak."

Many artists looking for recording studios like to know what kind of equipment the facility has. Theta Sound's Gear page is both functional and entertaining, with Randall's philosophy of studio gear infused throughout the descriptive paragraphs.

There's the Contact page with instant access to Theta Sound's e-mail and phone number, where Randall assures us you will reach him directly (no out-sourcing to foreign lands here).

After a facebook conversation with a guitarist in a local band, Randall realized that there was so much going on in Los Angeles and beyond, that a central events calendar might be needed and wanted by the community. That idea was met with unanimous approval as Randall posted the question on his facebook page, and the All-Arts Calendar section was born. As of this writing, there are dozens of events listed for music, poetry, dance and fine art. The All-Arts Calendar has become the place where artists and fans can see what's happening on any given date, all in one place.

Taking into account all of the above, we've only covered a part of the total content featured on the site. Randall estimates it could take over two hours to read, listen to and watch all of it. In defense of that statement he says, "We do so many things well here at Theta Sound, we want to make sure visitors to our web site have the chance to experience real-world examples of those products and services. Even with all that's on the site, if you do the math, it's probably about a hundredth of what we could have put up there!"

Consider this a highly-condensed time capsule into the past, present and future of one of L.A.'s recording studio elite. Who knows? You and your project just might make it onto the web pages of ThetaSound.com.