Bruce Swedien

Bruce Swedien (April 19, 1934 – November 16, 2020) was an American audio engineer and music producer. He is widely known for his work with Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones. Swedien first came to recognition for his work in 1962 on Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons "Big Girls Don't Cry".

Minneapolis-born Swedien was a five-time Grammy Award winner. He recorded, mixed, and assisted in producing the best-selling album in the world, Thriller (1982) by Michael Jackson. He also recorded and mixed for jazz artists such as Count Basie, Art Blakey, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Quincy Jones, Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, The Second Coming, and Jeff Oster.

History

Swedien was born on April 19, 1934 in Minneapolis, Minn. His parents were both classically-trained musicians, leading Swedien to develop a passion for music and recording at an early age.

He started his studio career in Chicago, working at Universal Studios under chief engineer Bill Putnam. He first met Jones when the other man was vice president for Mercury Records in Chicago. The two 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.

Swedien is noted 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.

His pop work includes Patti Austin, Natalie Cole, Roberta Flack, Mick Jagger, David Hasselhoff, Jennifer Lopez, 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.

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.

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. The award was presented by Quincy Jones.

Death

Swedien died November 16, 2020, aged 86. No cause of death was released.