International. Peter Lawo, founder of the German streaming and media technology company that bears his name, passed away on November 24, 2022 at the age of 85.
The committed engineer and entrepreneur founded today's Lawo AG in 1970 and laid the foundation for the company worldwide, achieving reputation and economic success with innovative audio products and uncompromising quality standards.
In the 1970s, Peter Lawo developed an electronic sound processor for the music of contemporary composer Karl-Heinz Stockhausen, which strongly influenced the compositions of "New Music". His contacts with musicians led to early projects with the regional public broadcaster Suedwestfunk (SWF) and installations in the station's so-called "Experimental Studio". This was followed by the development of the first audio mixing system for SWF, which was used to mix music with artists such as Pierre Boulez, Luigi Nono, Brian Ferneyhough, Christobal Halffter and Dieter Schnebel.
Based on this success, Lawo established contacts with system integrators in the industry and broadcasters. His maxim from the beginning was: "Listen to your customers and users, find out what they really need and find solutions that go beyond those needs." From the beginning, its first mixing consoles for broadcasting, which were still analog at the time, were characterized by uncompromising construction and sound quality and were unbeatable in their user-oriented operability, functionality and design.
In the early 1980s, Lawo used computer technology in its mixing consoles and built the "Programmierbare Ton-Regie, PTR) with analog signal processing and digital control of all mixer configurations, for which Lawo developed integrated motorized faders. house. With this system, the company Lawo consolidated itself as a manufacturer of large mixing consoles for high quality broadcast with innovative solutions and exceptional sound. Meanwhile, Lawo had focused entirely on audio technology for broadcasting and spun off all other equally successful business areas: medical lasers, public transport destination screens, and radio helmets for rescue helicopters. PTR was followed in 1994 by the first series of fully digital mc mixing consoles, which achieved great success in the German and European markets.
In 1999, Peter Lawo handed over the reins of the company to his son Philipp Lawo, under whose visionary leadership Lawo became one of the pioneers of IP technology in broadcasting and one of the world's leading providers of network, control, audio and video systems. Whether it's Formula 1, Bundesliga football or the World Championships, nowadays, there is hardly a major global sporting event in which the products and solutions of the Rastatt-based company do not contribute decisively to production. The products are developed in Germany and manufactured to the highest quality standards at the company's headquarters in Rastatt.
