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By GEOFF FOX, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 17, 2007

Updated: 12/16/2007 08:22 pm

WESLEY CHAPEL - Mike Felker poked his computer screen.

"Listen to this," he said excitedly. "This is so cool."

His speakers emitted a series of melodic, if nontraditional, hornlike sounds.

On his computer screen was something that looked like a miniature soundboard, which he operated by touch.

"Check out this one."

The sound of mystical synthesizers filled his home recording studio, followed by ethereal string arrangements.

"We create sounds for virtual instruments," Felker said. "You know, samples."
Felker and his business partner, Bill Singleton of Homestead, recently started World-Class Multimedia, which they hope to incorporate soon. Besides producing corporate events and duplicating CDs and DVD, they compose musical scores for video games, Web sites and commercials.

The scores often are composed of sampled sounds Felker creates on a computer, usually one he has built himself.

Through the years, Felker, 39, said he has done work for large companies such as Primerica and Eckerd, as well as "a large variety of law firms and real estate companies."

On a recent weekday, the longtime friends convened at Felker's comfortable home off State Road 54. The house, where Felker lives with wife, Missy, and son, Scotty, 7, has been all but transformed into a multimedia studio.

Inside Felker's front door, visitors are greeted by a green screen large enough to cover most of one wall.

"If a client wants to do a broadcast for the Internet, we can do it right here," Felker said, eyebrows raised toward the screen. "You could have any scene behind him. A beach with a cruise ship in the background - anything."

In the living room is a projector and scads of computer equipment.

Down the hall is the music room, featuring more Felker-built machinery, as well as a pair of keyboards, a five-piece drum set, guitars, a mandolin, flutes, Celtic whistles and aboriginal instruments, such as a didgeridoo and rain sticks.

"We can create some really cool sounds," Singleton said.

Singleton said he recently figured out how to make new sounds using steel drums and by spinning hoses used to clean pools.
Felker and Singleton are accomplished multi-instrument musicians who met while playing together in a band. Felker specializes in trumpet, drums and keyboards, and Singleton focuses on string instruments and drums; he also does voiceover work.

At corporate events, Felker said, they "essentially set up speakers and graphics and computers and mixing boards and run presentations and do corporate DJ'ing."

"At really big events, we'll play high-energy music," he said. "Then, when all the people speak and do award shows, we record it at the same time. We make sure they sound and look good and make sure nothing goes wrong, if possible. We do all our testing and sound checks the day before."

Besides their musical talents, Felker's and Singleton's personalities seem to mesh well. Singleton is quiet but affable, while Felker speaks with the glib enthusiasm of a game-show host.

When talking shop, for instance, he'll say that a certain apparatus is powered by "three terabytes of sound."

"That's 3,000 gigabytes, which is 3 trillion megabytes. That's a lot," he said. "I'm sorry. I just spit this stuff out."

You can't fault a guy for enjoying his work.
Felker poked his screen again, and through the speakers came the musical score they composed for the "Crusade Omega" video game.

The small room filled with pulsating battle music.

"Playing a game to this is cool," he said with a smile. "It just is."

Then, chanting along with the theme, he yelled, "Come get some!"

Reporter Geoff Fox can be reached at (813) 948-4217 or gfox@tampatrib.com.

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