Bruce Swedien

 ( 1934 Births ) 

In 1957, after leaving Minneapolis he began working for RCA Victor Records in Chicago. Shortly after that, he left for Universal Recording Corporation where he worked under chief engineer Bill Putnam. 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.Swedien, Bruce & Bill Gibson (2013). The Bruce Swedien Recording Method. New York: Hal Leonard Books;

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.Sweeney. Daniel "History, Acoustic Sciences Corporation, November 7, 2012. 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.

His pop work included recordings by 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 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. The award was presented by Quincy Jones.