When you know what you want, there's no point messing around.
After 18 years, Tulio Torrinello knew what the music business was all about.
He had worked in a professional band straight out of high school and knew
his way around studios. So when he decided to become a recording engineer
there was only one thing to do -- go back to school.
"I figured I could either learn from pure experience or find some kind
of shortcut," says Torrinello. That shortcut turned out to be the Berklee
College of Music. And Torrinello's bet was right. Since he's graduated, he's
worked with some of the most happening bands in hip hop, rap and R and B --
including Tony Toni Tone and the Grammy-winning Coolio.
"A good education can help," Torrinello says. "It gives you confidence,
not in an arrogant way, but if you are faced with a challenge, you know you
can get through it."
There's no question Torrinello loves what he does. There's something about
listening to a good band and then putting it all together with just the right
mix that keeps him going.
"You're trying to create a performance that's enjoyable to hear," he says.
"It's like you're sitting at home messing with the bass and the treble, except
that I'm doing it with each individual sound. That requires a lot of manipulation
of each instrument and sound. It's very creative."
The challenge is being able to hear a song or group and know precisely
what that band should sound like. "Is it supposed to be aggressive? Should
there be lots of echoes or delays? It's the whole aspect of mixing I love
and the ability to manipulate them."
Aside from the creative satisfaction, the job offers other perks. Recently,
Torrinello was wined and dined in France. Sony sent him there to produce one
of France's new artists. That, combined with working with incredibly talented
people, keeps the job exciting.
But it isn't all glamour. Like many recording engineers, Torrinello is
independent. Even recording engineers with dozens of gold albums to their
name can go months at a time without work.
"Records are very tough. You can work three months, and then [you] don't
work for two months. It's just part of the business."
Bill Seddon's been in the business for decades. Seddon avoids downtime
by working as a professor of recording engineering.
Seddon loves the variety that the music business allows. The caliber of
the musicians always varies, and there's the challenge of trying to top your
last performance. "You try and get more creative, more innovative than the
last job you did," says Seddon.
Karen Kane, one of a handful of women working in the industry, says it's
a love she couldn't let go of once she found it.
Kane's been working with musicians for over 30 years. Her most memorable
moment was in 1986 in Boston when she worked on a demo tape for Tracy Chapman.
"It got on the radio and took off from there," Kane says, then sighs. "Then
she signed to a big label."
Kane worries about working as an independent. "But it always works out.
You have to have a lot of faith. There are good weeks and weeks without very
much cash, and you learn how to weather those times."
It took a while for Kane to find her feet. "I grew up in
a family that didn't encourage me to do anything. Basically they gave me food,
clothing, shelter and ignored me. As a young adult, I didn't know what I could
do with my life." She drifted for a while, and eventually stumbled on the
recording business.
"I found something in my life that I'm passionate about and I love and
I think that's a blessing," Kane says. "I play the mixing console like an
instrument, and if everything is going right it's a wonderful feeling."
But after so many years, she finds it tough to keep her energy up. "The
sessions can be long and I've got to remain as healthy as possible -- there's
nothing worse than an irritated engineer-producer! We all create a product
together. It's like having a baby, but I've had 130 of them."