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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."

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