Richard Long (died 1986) was an American sound designer. He is known as the preeminent sound designer of the disco era, having installed systems at clubs including

Paradise Garage Paradise Garage, also known as "the Garage" or the "Gay-rage", was a New York City discotheque notable in the history of dance and pop music, as well as LGBT and nightclub cultures. The club was founded by sole proprietor Michael Brody, and ...

, Dorian Gray,

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater ...

, and

Max's Kansas City Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South in New York City, which became a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s. It was opened by Mickey Ruskin (1933–1983) in Decemb ...

Career

Richard Long initially worked for

Alex Rosner Alex Rosner is an American sound engineer and designer. He is known as the sound designer for the club The Loft and as the inventor of the mixer, a tool for DJs. Early life Rosner and his father survived the Holocaust and time at Dachau. After t ...

, famous for his system installed at the Loft. Long's first nightclub was SoHo Place. In 1977, he designed the custom sound system for Paradise Garage. This system became his flagship. Long was known for his heavy bass sound. Paradise Garage had a custom speaker, the "Levan Horn", designed to increase bass in the club, and named after DJ

Larry Levan Larry Levan (; born Lawrence Philpot, July 20, 1954 – November 8, 1992) was an American DJ best known for his decade-long residency at the New York City night club Paradise Garage, which has been described as the prototype of the modern d ...

. Over the course of his career, Long installed more than 300 systems. Locations included Copacabana, Directoire, the Ginza, the Limelight, Max's Kansas City, Studio 54, Area, Bonds International Casino, Zanzibar (Newark), The Box (Chicago), Ware House, and Paradise Garage. In 1980, Long won the Billboard award for Best Disco Sound Design. Long died of AIDS in 1986. The only surviving Richard Long soundsystem is at the Eldorado Bumper Car ride in

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to th ...

, NY. Long was invited to install the system by the Eldorado's owner, Scott Fitlin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Richard 1986 deaths Deaths from AIDS-related illness American audio engineers