a brief history

Joe Tarsia grew up in Philadelphia with a love for music and electronics.   That combination eventually led him to work as a laboratory technician for Philco Corp. in the research department.  In his spare time, he moonlighted fixing TVs, where he met someone who had a recording studio and needed his tape recorder fixed.  Joe never left and eventually rebuilt the studio.  He began servicing other studios, one of which was Cameo Parkway.  He worked his way up from Assistant Junior Engineer to Chief Engineer, where he worked with such artists as Gamble & Huff, Thom Bell, Chubby Checker, Dee Dee Sharp, the Dovells, Bobby Rydell, Billy Paul and Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes. 

In 1968, Joe Tarsia would form his own company, Sigma Sound.  Under Tarsia's leadership, Sigma brought cutting edge innovation to sound recording, as the second studio to offer 24-track recording and the first studio anywhere to successfully employ console automation.  It was during the mid 60's to the early 80's that the unique sound that came to life in Sigma Sound Studios would dominate the world's airwaves.  Joe Tarsia and Sigma Sound became synonymous with "The Sound of Philadelphia".