Bruce Swedien
Bruce Swedien | |
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 Swedien in 1998 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | April 19, 1934 Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | November 16, 2020 (aged 86) Gainesville, Florida, U.S. |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Years active | 1959–2020 |
| Associated acts | |
Bruce Swedien (/swəˈdiːn/; April 19, 1934 – November 16, 2020) was an American recording engineer, mixing engineer and record producer. He was widely known for his work with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Paul McCartney and Barbra Streisand.[1]
Swedien first achieved widespread recognition as engineer with Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons' 1962 single "Big Girls Don't Cry" which sold over one million copies and stayed at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for five weeks.[2]
Swedien won 5 Grammy Awards for Best Engineered Album for his work with Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. He received 13 additional nominations.[3]
History[]
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 Recording Corporation 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 held at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.[13] The award was presented by Quincy Jones.[14]
Death[]
Swedien died November 16, 2020, of complications from a broken hip surgery. He was 86.[15]
Awards[]
Swedien won 5 Grammy Awards and was nominated 12 times.[3]
References[]
- ^ "Michael Jackson's Thriller engineer, Bruce Swedien, has died aged 86". BBC News. 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
- ^ "The Hot 100 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Bruce Swedien". GRAMMY.com. 2020-05-19. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
- ^ "Variety". 18 November 2020.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Bruce Swedien, a Shaper of Michael Jackson’s Sound, Dies at 86," The New York Times, November 22, 2020.
- ^ "Universal Audio". www.uaudio.com.
- ^ Swedien, Bruce & Bill Gibson (2013). The Bruce Swedien Recording Method. New York: Hal Leonard Books; ISBN 978-1-4584-1119-8
- ^ "Michael Jackson's Thriller engineer, Bruce Swedien, has died aged 86". BBC News. 2020-11-18. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
- ^ Sweeney. Daniel ["History in the Making], Acoustic Sciences Corporation, November 7, 2012.
- ^ "Swedien Works with Jennifer Lopez". www.asc-studio-acoustics.com.
- ^ "Bruce Swedien | Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
- ^ Sweeney, Daniel. [An incredible new sound for Engineers], Acoustic Sciences Corporation; retrieved March 27, 2014.
- ^ "All Recording - ProSoundWeb".
- ^ "Second Annual Pensado Awards Winners Announced". Mixonline. 2015-09-01. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
- ^ Storer, Rhi (November 18, 2020). "Bruce Swedien, studio engineer for Michael Jackson, dies aged 86". The Guardian. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
External links[]
- 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 2010-09-17 at the Wayback Machine
- Q&A session with Bruce Swedien on GearSlutz
- Bruce Swedien Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (2016)
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| General |
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| National libraries | |
| Other |
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- American audio engineers
- Grammy Award winners
- Record producers from Minnesota
- Businesspeople from Minneapolis
- 2020 deaths
- American people of Swedish descent
- 1934 births