Swedien was born on April 19, 1934, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His parents, Ellsworth and Louise (Perusse) Swedien, Ellsworth of Swedish descent, and Louise of French descent, were both classically-trained musicians, leading Swedien to develop a passion for music and recording at an early age.[4][5] His father bought him a disc recording machine when he was 10 and a professional tape recorder after graduating high school.[6] Swedien studied electrical engineering with a minor in music at the University of Minnesota, but did not graduate.[6]
Career
In 1954, aged 20, Swedien set up a recording studio in the old Garrick/LaSalle movie theater in Minneapolis.[7] He transformed the space into the Swedien Recording Studio, where he produced and recorded music for several years with artists such as Art Blakey and Herbie Mann. However, in late 1957, he sold the studio and relocated to Chicago.[6][8]
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 Jacksonalbums on which he had worked.[11][12] 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.[6]
On November 10, 2001, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in philosophy from the Luleå University of Technology for his achievements as a sound engineer. Swedien also held classes at the Swedish National Radio for practicing sound engineers.[15]
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.[16] The award was presented by Quincy Jones.[17]
Death
Swedien died on November 16, 2020, at the age of 86, from surgery complications for a broken hip caused by a fall.[18][19]
