MUNCIE, Ind. - Sight and Sound, located in Muncie, is a guitar and music shop that offers several amenities including production set ups, music lessons and rentals. Jason Struble opened the shop in 1993 after realizing that there was not a music store in Muncie that offered the production services he needed.
Struble has been playing guitar his whole life and started his musical career as a DJ in college. Struble was a finance major and wanted to dabble in making his own business. He ended up working full time on Sight and Sound his senior year of college, and has been improving it ever since.
The workers of Sight and Sound work with all customers closely to help them find the right musical equipment for their needs and help them set up their concerts.
“They get support back from us, especially with our concert production. We will do some big upgrades for the local staff and try to give them bigger shows, better shows than they paid for. Support the local concerts and things like that,” Struble said.
Sight and Sound offers unique opportunities for local artists to perform.
“We just had a couple ladies that are doing a song writer series of concerts. So we’re sponsoring it and we gave a gift card to every performer who's going to perform for the entire year,” Struble said.
Sight and Sound workers have become experts at helping customers with their musical needs. They answer phone calls, work with people in stores and offer lessons.
“They can help you with anything you need, they're very very informative, they're not scared to tell you how to do something. They will answer any question you have about anything without making you feel stupid. They want you to better yourself and have fun while you're doing it,” Chris Faucett, Stage Hand, said.
Sight and Sound is passionate about finding customers the right equipment, so that the artist can focus on their music.
“It's fun finding someone that piece of equipment that fills the piece of the puzzle that they're passionate about,” Jacob Struble, Manager and Vice-President, said.
Having a member of the Sight and Sounds team helps customers navigate the store and many options they offer, helps employees and customers to connect, and makes the customers' musical experiences less stressful.
“When people come in and have an expert help them find the right gear, the right instrument, record device.When they have to worry less about the equipment and it working correctly, they can focus more on the music and the lyrics and what it means to them. They don't have to worry if this is the right microphone, they just sing into the microphone,” Jacob said.
Sight and Sound has a plethora of musical experience from lighting, production and playing music themselves. They find it important to share their love and knowledge of music to local artists.
“If you haven't played guitar before, whether you're gonna be a rockstar or a weekend warrior. It's a great life passion to have. Guitar is a wonderful thing to play. You can play it by yourself around the campfire, you don't need a band or anything. Give it a shot. We offer anybody a free lesson, no obligation. Come in, check it out and play one of our guitars. Come in and see what music is all about,” Struble said.
Sight and Sound shares their passion for music through more than just selling guitars, they are along for the whole process of becoming a musician.
Contact Stella Davis with comments at estella.davis@bsu.edu.
