Bruce Swedien
Bruce Swedien is a Grammy Award-winning audio engineer and music producer. He is known for his work with Quincy Jones.
Swedien first came to recognition for his work in 1962 on Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons "Big Girls Don't Cry" for which he won a Grammy nomination.
Swedien is a five-time Grammy winner and has been nominated 13 times.[1] He recorded, mixed, and assisted in producing the best-selling album in the world, Thriller by Michael Jackson.[2] He was the primary sound engineer for Jackson's studio recordings from 1978 to 2001.[3]
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 and Jeff Oster. His pop work includes Patti Austin, Natalie Cole, Roberta Flack, Mick Jagger, David Hasselhoff, Jennifer Lopez,[4] Paul McCartney, Diana Ross, Rufus, Chaka Khan, Barbra Streisand, Lena Horne, Donna Summer, Sarah Vaughan, and the zouk band Kassav'. He worked on the scores for Night Shift, The Color Purple and Running Scared.
On 10 November 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.[5]
On 30 August 2015, he was presented the Pensado Giant Award at the second annual Pensado Awards held at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, CA.[6] The award was presented by Quincy Jones.
Although born in Minneapolis, Bruce started his studio career in Chicago, working at Universal Studios under chief engineer Bill Putnam.[7] He first met Quincy Jones there while Jones was vice president for Mercury Records in Chicago. The two worked on albums for artists like Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. Bruce later moved to Brunswick Records in the late 1960s and 1970s where he ran and developed the label's studios and sound. The label, under producer Carl Davis, 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' which involves pairing up microphones together on vocals and instruments, a technique enabled by synchronizing several multi-track recorders with SMPTE timecode.[8] This achieved an enhanced roomy ambient sound, some of which is evident on albums produced in collaboration with Quincy Jones on tracks such as "Sounds And Stuff Like That!!", George Benson's "Give Me the Night", and the Michael Jackson albums[9] he worked on.
References
- ↑ "In the studio with Bruce Swedian", 2011, In The Studio With Bruce Swedien. Retrieved on 14 March 2014.
- ↑ Gallagher, Matt. [Bruce Swedian on recording, Mixing Michael Jackson], Mix,New Bay Media, 2014. retrieved on 25 March 2014
- ↑ Mr. Bonzai[Bruce Swedian interview],Mix Buss, 2006. Retrieved on 24 March 2014.
- ↑ New York City, New York.[Swedien Works with Jennifer Lopez],acoustic sciences Corps.,2009 retrieved on 25 march 2014.
- ↑ Sweeney,Daniel.[An incredible new sound for Engineers], Acoustic Sciences Corporation,2013. Retrieved on 24 March 2014.
- ↑ ProSoundWeb article: Winners announced for second annual Pensado Awards
- ↑ Bruce Swedien's Autobiography 'Make Mine Music'
- ↑
- ↑ Sweeney.Daniel["History In The Making],Acoustic Sciences Corporation,7 November 2012.
- Swedien, Bruce (2003). Make Mine Music. Norway: MIA Musikk. ISBN 82-996756-1-8.
- Swedien, Bruce (2009). In the studio with Michael Jackson. New York: Hal Leonard Books. ISBN 978-1-4234-6495-2.
- Swedien, Bruce; Gibson, Bill (2013). The Bruce Swedien Recording Method. New York: Hal Leonard Books. ISBN 978-1-4584-1119-8
External links
- In The Studio with Bruce Swedien
- Archived interview with Mr. Bonzai, November 2006
- Bruce Swedien on Recording, Mixing Michael Jackson
- Swedien Works With Jennifer Lopez
- An Incredible New Sound for Engineers
- Q&A session with Bruce Swedien on GearSlutz
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