KVR Audio

elassi · Post by **elassi** » Sun May 10, 2015 3:13 am

This is sad news. John Dunn from Algorithmic Arts suffers from health problems and won't be able to continue to work on his programs. Therefore he decided to release them as freeware.

For those who don't know ArtWonk: it's the "Reaktor" of modular midi applications. Check it here: http://algoart.com

Get well soon, John!

Shalotta · Post by **Shalotta** » Sun May 10, 2015 8:38 am

I am fascinated on generative composing, wish I can spend more time soon.

Thanks for the product spotlight and best wishes to Mr. Dunn.

Acid Mitch · Post by **Acid Mitch** » Sun May 10, 2015 8:47 am

Didn't they used to have other MIDI stuff called Soft step or something ?
It was like an environment for building step sequencers ,etc.

elassi · Post by **elassi** » Sun May 10, 2015 8:55 am

Yes, there were Softstep and Bankstep, too. The latter was/is a "hardwired" setup with no option to alter the structure.

Technically spoken ArtWonk is the flagship prog containing all features of the other apps mentioned here.

Acid Mitch · Post by **Acid Mitch** » Sun May 10, 2015 9:00 am

Aye that was it. I remember trying them years ago.
I should probably give art/music wonk a go. Thanks for letting us know it's now freeware. Great stuff. Amazing they've been released for free.

deastman · Post by **deastman** » Sun May 10, 2015 9:09 am

Wow, I've been eyeing these for many, many years now. Its great for us that they have been set free, but under very sad circumstances.

elassi · Post by **elassi** » Sun May 10, 2015 9:36 am

To add a hint to Mitch's note about building step sequencers: Leaving the algorithmic aspects aside it's in fact ideal for building your own "Supersequencer" that goes far, far beyond the usual specs of typical models.

Let alone the possibility to implement several clocks (even of different types) or modulate the lenght of sequences incl. start/stop-points which is perfect for loooooooong ever-alternating sequences. Actually you can modulate/automate anything inside ArtWonk.

Because it's a standalone app it's imho best suited for hardware geeks looking for alternatives to MAQ16/3 or similar gear. Due to its low cpu-profile it should run on older machines, too, so one might think about adding a cheap laptop to his/her modular machine park...

Pytchblend · Post by **Pytchblend** » Thu Sep 08, 2016 5:20 pm

I'm very surprised that I can't find a user forum or any prefabs/presets -- any know of any please?

It' a really impressive standalone app that can run from USB (not a plugin) and so needs loopMIDI or similar to use it with a DAW. This little video shows its UI

Shabdahbriah · Post by **Shabdahbriah** » Mon Sep 12, 2016 12:58 pm

elassi wrote:This is sad news. John Dunn from Algorithmic Arts suffers from health problems and won't be able to continue to work on his programs. Therefore he decided to release them as freeware.
Get well soon, John!

I'm sorry to hear about John's health problems. Indeed, all the best to him.

elassi wrote:For those who don't know ArtWonk: it's the "Reaktor" of modular midi applications.

That is the truth! Great programs. I started with SoftStep and BankStep, which was sort-of a poor mans Zyklus MPS, then Artwonk to load FRACT386 (later "Fractint") stuff.

Seems like I was running BankStep through a Dr.T interface, to outboard gear.

Though it's not shown on Johns download page, you can still find it. It too is free, and deep...

BankStep.gif

http://www.algoart.com/help/bankstep/index.htm

ArtWonk and MusicWonk now freeware