RLA - Richard Long & Associates

Richard Long, the grandmaster of club sound, builds speaker systems that make you feel the music.

He made them all. Well-known clubs of the '70s and '80s, such as Dorian Gray, Paradise Garage and Studio 54, were all equipped by Richard Long and his team. And if you believe the people who were there, no one has ever built sound systems like Richard.

Not the least of these experiences, I had to built up an RLA System as showcar for my self. And on Frickelfest this year it came to life.

After bringing these big boxes home, I struggled a lot with the sound performance. It wasn't bad, but there was so much room for improvement and so many different pieces of advice on how to do it.

Of course, this is not a PA sound and it should stay something special. That's why my subconscious wants analogue activation and no modern DSP stuff.

Ultimately, I had to call Laurin. He himself had a similar system to mine in Paradise Garage from 1974 until 1976. Laurin is deeply involved in this genre of club system and took me with him into it. He gave me the courage to try and simplify things. But before taking measurements, the system has to be improved.

Step one: The Bass-Rutsche.

Step two: The horn section.

Take it step by step and enjoy the beauty of it.

Sadly, no RLA system by Richard Long has survived. But of course, I'm not the only one with a rebuild of an RLA system. Sam, also known as Floating Point, has a very nice one and is addicted to its pure beauty.

As he said: 'On the edge of art and science.'

As one of Richard Long's contemporaries said: 'He was a master carpenter, and his boxes were works of art.'