Bruce Swedien

Swedien was born on April 19, 1934 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His parents, Ellsworth and Louise (Perusse) Swedien, both of Swedish descent, were both classically-trained musicians, leading Swedien to develop a passion for music and recording at an early age.[4] His father bought him a disc recording machine when he was 10 and a professional tape recorder after graduating high school. Swedien studied electrical engineering and music at the University of Minnesota but did not graduate. At age 20 he set up his own recording studio in an old movie theatre.[5]

In 1957, he left Minneapolis and began working for RCA Victor Records in Chicago.[5] Shortly after that, he left for Universal Studios where he worked under chief engineer Bill Putnam.[6] He first met Quincy Jones when the other man was vice president for Mercury Records in Chicago. The two men worked on albums for artists like Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. Swedien later moved to Brunswick Records in the late 1960s and 1970s where he ran and developed the label's studios and sound. 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.[7]

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.[8][9] 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.[5]

His pop work included recordings by Patti Austin, Natalie Cole, Roberta Flack, Mick Jagger, David Hasselhoff, Jennifer Lopez,[10] 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.[11]

On November 10, 2001, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the Luleå University of Technology, Sweden for his achievements as a sound engineer. Swedien also held "masterclasses" at the Swedish National Radio for practicing sound engineers.[12]

On August 30, 2015, he was presented the Pensado Giant Award at the second annual Pensado Awards held at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.[13] The award was presented by Quincy Jones.[14]

Swedien died November 16, 2020 of complications from a broken hip surgery. He was 86.[15]

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
• Q&A session with Bruce Swedien on GearSlutz
• Bruce Swedien Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2016)