Bruce Swedien

Swedien was born on April 19, 1934, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His parents, Ellsworth and Louise (Perusse) Swedien, Ellsworth of Swedish descent, and Louise of French descent, were both classically-trained musicians, leading Swedien to develop a passion for music and recording at an early age.^[4][5] His father bought him a disc recording machine when he was 10 and a professional tape recorder after graduating high school.^[6] Swedien studied electrical engineering with a minor in music at the University of Minnesota, but did not graduate.^[6]

In 1954, aged 20, Swedien set up a recording studio in the old Garrick/LaSalle movie theater in Minneapolis.^[7] He transformed the space into the Swedien Recording Studio, where he produced and recorded music for several years with artists such as Art Blakey and Herbie Mann. However, in late 1957, he sold the studio and relocated to Chicago.^[6][8]

In 1957, he left Minneapolis and began working for RCA Victor Records in Chicago.^[6] Shortly after that, he left for Universal Recording Corporation where he worked under chief engineer Bill Putnam.^[9] He first met Quincy Jones when Jones was vice president for Mercury Records in Chicago. The two worked on albums for artists like Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. Swedien moved to Brunswick Records where he ran and developed the label's studios and sound in the late 1960s and 1970s. The label was responsible for numerous R&B and pop hits during that time, with artists such as The Chi-Lites, Tyrone Davis and Jackie Wilson.^[10]

Swedien was known for pioneering the "Acusonic Recording Process", pairing up microphones together on vocals and instruments, a technique enabled by synchronizing several multi-track recorders with SMPTE timecode. This achieved an enhanced roomy ambient sound, some of which is evident on albums produced in collaboration with Jones on such tracks as George Benson's "Give Me the Night", and the Michael Jackson albums on which he had worked.^[11][12] He would often experiment while recording with Jackson, having the singer stand at different distances from the microphone and singing through a cardboard tube, among other techniques. Swedien wrote about his experience working with Jackson in a 2009 book titled In the Studio with Michael Jackson.^[6]

His pop work included recordings by Patti Austin, Natalie Cole, Roberta Flack, Mick Jagger, David Hasselhoff, Jennifer Lopez,^[13] Paul McCartney, Diana Ross, Rufus, Chaka Khan, Barbra Streisand, Lena Horne, Donna Summer, and Sarah Vaughan. He worked on the scores for Night Shift, The Color Purple and Running Scared.^[14]

Recognition

On November 10, 2001, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the Luleå University of Technology for his achievements as a sound engineer. Swedien also held classes at the Swedish National Radio for practicing sound engineers.^[15]

On August 30, 2015, Swedien was presented the Pensado Giant Award at the second annual Pensado Awards held at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.^[16] The award was presented by Quincy Jones.^[17]

Swedien died on November 16, 2020, at the age of 86, from surgery complications for a broken hip caused by a fall.^[18][19]

Swedien won 5 Grammy Awards and was nominated 12 times.^[3]

• In The Studio with Bruce Swedien
• Bruce Swedien discography at Discogs
• Archived interview with Mr. Bonzai, November 2006
• Bruce Swedien on Recording, Mixing Michael Jackson
• An Incredible New Sound for Engineers Archived September 17, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
• Q&A session with Bruce Swedien on GearSlutz
• Bruce Swedien Interview at NAMM Oral History Collection (2016)