The Volunteer Programmers for New Music, founded in 2003 by Barry Drogin and sponsored by Not Nice Music, is an open-source collective of programmers whose work is freely available at http://www.notnicemusic.com/VPNM/. As, and if, the VPNM grows to a size where the contents of this site can be moved to its own base URL, with a monetary source paying for InterNIC fees, web space with FTP capabilities, and other future features yet to be imagined by its membership, this web page will be changed to a pointer to the new web space; until such time, however, Barry Drogin will maintain complete control of this non-enterprise, so as to preserve the integrity of the remainder of the Not Nice Music web site and its contents.
Membership in VPNM is limited to teenagers under the age of 18, or to individuals who are willing to hide their identitites and make believe that they are teenagers under the age of 18. All submittals to the VPNM web site, amd all participation in VPNM projects, shall, initially, be conducted via e-mail to barry@notnicemusic.com using zipped attached files where appropriate. All files shall contain the documentary notice:
Similar to Andy Warhol's Factory, the work of the VPNM will initially be directed by Barry Drogin and can only be said to be work of the VPNM with his explicit direction and approval. Projects currently planned under the auspices of the VPNM include:
As open-source products, Not Nice Music reserves the right to distribute, or to authorize others to distribute, any or all products created by the VPNM, either individually or in association with other products. Similarly, other individuals or entities will be entitled to distribute any products available on this web site, or to create new works based upon the underlying products available on this web site, with the sole condition that the original products, created under an open-source license, cannot be copyrighted in their original forms and distribution thereof be limited or subject to royalty. Furthermore, all participants in the VPNM will not be compensated, or expect royalty distributions, from any commercial exploitation or use of products created for the VPNM.
For the amusement of visitors to this site, here are a set of links to other interesting applications of Internet technology to the realization of new music and interactive media:
To join VPNM, please send a communication to Barry Drogin using one of the response options below. Remember to indicate that you are under the age of 18 (or claim to be under the age of 18, true or not). All participants in the VPNM, aside from Mr. Drogin, who was born in 1960, are expected to remain under the age of 18 for the duration of their participation in the VPNM. As such, it is recommended that no correspondence contain any information indicating the participant's actual birthdate, age, level of education, or other identifying personal identification, such as a link to personal web sites, etc. The use of pseudonymous names and e-mail addresses is acceptable if not encouraged.
The VPNM was created in response to a challenge from Kyle Gann, music critic for The Village Voice, to do more than "visualize some glorious web fantasia of interactive music environments - but [...] make that fantasia a reality." I honestly believe that such environments do not require Ph.D. candidates with corporate funding, professional programmers working for opera houses, symphony orchestras or public radio stations (as some of the links above illustrate), but just a little free time and the enthusiasm and learning ability of a teenager. What those teenagers grow up to become is not my concern and out of my control.
P.S. The URL of this site will appear as "http://www.notnicemusic.com/VPNM/" until such time as I move its contents to another server and work out the kinks of URL forwarding with my domain registry service provider.
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