A guitar soloist can play the middleman for only so long. So classical guitarist Thomas Kikta, co-owner of a Downtown company that produces CDs for bands, musicians and even companies, decided to move to center stage and buy a label.

Thomas Kikta More information To purchase Alanna Records CDs, visit www.alannarecords.com.

Since 1992, Digital Dynamics Audio Inc., co-founded by Kikta and his Duquesne University colleague Francisco Rodriguez, has done just about everything a record label does: mixing, mastering, design and even manufacturing small runs of CDs and DVDs for clients around the nation. A one-stop shop for CD production, it has profited from the trend of orchestras and bands looking to self-release albums or limited-run endeavors.

Projects have included creating a lavish Kurt Masur box set for the New York Philharmonic and producing some Clarks releases. Other projects have been commercial, such as producing promotional CDs for Miller Brewing and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Business has been good, but Kikta wanted to have more say in the creative process. So this month, Digital Dynamics Audio acquired Alanna Records, a small jazz, folk, classical and adult contemporary label based in Upper St. Clair.

"This is a new direction we are taking," says Kikta, Alanna's new president. "We actually had mastered the titles for this label; it was one of our customers."

With a value of approximately $250,000 and with about 60 titles in its catalog, Alanna is a relative unknown, improbably tucked away as it is in the South Hills. It was started 45 years ago by former A&R man William Lawrence. "This label has a national rep but in a niche market," says Kikta, who also hails from Upper St. Clair. Now, he envisions reforging Alanna into a label that will be home to some Pittsburgh jazz and classical musicians.

"If we could make a legitimate conduit to bring [local artists] to the market, it would be win-win," he says. "This is something that is long overdue for the Pittsburgh area. To be really successful we have to look to the nation, but any success we have will benefit musicians in Pittsburgh."

That means anything from having local musicians sit in on sessions for a new album by an outside artist or signing a local classical or jazz group to do an album. "If it is a good fit [good]," he says. "If they are from Pittsburgh, then it is even better, because I love promoting Pittsburgh."

As it stands, the next three releases on Alanna have local ties, beginning with "So Near, So Far," a crossover jazz album by saxophonist Stephen Pollock produced by Branford and Delfeayo Marsalis. Pollock is Kikta's faculty colleague at Duquesne University, and Kikta acknowledges that he is tapping friends for projects now.

"I am going with people I trust to get the ball rolling. Then we will expand," he says.

It won't be easy, but I applaud Kikta's intensions and enthusiasm. I have long thought the Pittsburgh classical music scene in general has lacked recording savvy. So many groups simply don't have attractive representation on disc. It is not enough to just release a CD; it needs to look and sound good; it needs to have appealing repertoire.

The major labels' consolidation -- down to just four companies these days -- has led to an increase in smaller labels and self-produced albums, which is a good thing because more groups are being recorded. But if the quality is poor, CDs aren't much help in boosting classical music's place in the greater cultural conversation.

This is not easily accomplished. Kikta has no plans to go the nonprofit route of labels such as the Manchester Craftsman's Guild's MCG Jazz label; Analekta, which presents Canadian musicians; and Cedille Records, billed as "Chicago's Classical Record Label." Add to that the fact that classical and jazz are a tough sell, and it would be understandable if Alanna never becomes "Pittsburgh's Classical Record Label."

Still, one can dream. What a boon for a city it can be when it does happen. "You can increase the profile of the metropolitan area," says Jim Ginsburg, president of Cedille. "In our case, the Chicago Symphony is known, but the smaller groups aren't. We helped the Pacifica Quartet become more well-known, as well as midsize groups and soloists. We helped [violinist] Rachael Barton Pine get her name out there. This might be even more true for a city like Pittsburgh."

The simple fact that Kikta is interested at all in supporting local artists should have a positive effect on the city's classical environment. Typically, local artists and composers must shop their music across the country, to such labels as Albany Records or Naxos.

"You have to send them the finished product," says Matthew Galbraith, who manages Carnegie Mellon University composer Nancy Galbraith's career. That means in addition to doing the recording, musicians have to find the best deal for distribution through a label. "Location doesn't mean as much these days, but it would be a nice thing to have in Pittsburgh. The key is distribution. If this Alanna has this machinery in place, we would be interested in talking to them."

"There should be a conduit by which a talented musician gets his music out to his fans and we all make money," Kikta says. "A lot of labels don't give residuals. We will. We will give the artists the luxury of how to represent themselves. They are going to dictate what they want to do."

Maybe it's still a fantasy for Pittsburgh, but when Ginsburg founded Cedille in 1989, he had much less infrastructure than Kikta has now.

Here's hoping that at least some of the talented classical and jazz groups, soloists and composers in town will find help getting the word out -- literally, their sound out -- in enhanced form with this new opportunity.