The Ming Mecca is a pixel art-oriented modular sound and interactive video synthesizer designed by Jordan Bartee, manufactured by Special Stage Systems, and released in 2014. It was followed by the Ming Micro in 2016.

Overview

The Ming Mecca is a modular synthesizer designed to allow users to create, control, and manipulate retro video games. The system has 2 main modules. In the World Core users can make changes to the game world via a series of toggles and switches, and in the Control Core users can use a NES controller to give inputs directly into the game to produce various results.Mitchell, Richard.
Ming Mecca: An analog video game synthesizer
. '' Engadget''. 3 May 2013.
Previously printed
in '' Joystiq'')Elliot, Patrick.
Ming Mecca, The Jazz Instrument for Videogame Improvisation
. '' Kill Screen''. 30 March 2015. These two cores allow the creation of

glitch art Glitch art is the practice of using digital or analog errors for aesthetic purposes by either corrupting digital data or physically manipulating electronic devices. Glitches appear in visual art such as the film ''A Colour Box'' (1935) by Len Lye, ...

videos, however the unit is intended to allow users to explore the game world and to use it as an "ontological toy" with sprites, backgrounds, and effects like gravity and object interaction. It is also intended to function with the Eurorack synthesizer family to allow electronic music to interact with the graphical world in realtime. In addition, a third module, the Oscillographic Block (which also interfaces with Eurorack) has provided expanded audio capacity via the Texas Instruments SN76489 chip so that it can allow

chiptune Chiptune, also known as chip music or 8-bit music, is a style of synthesized electronic music made using the programmable sound generator (PSG) sound chips or synthesizers in vintage arcade machines, computers and video game consoles. The t ...

, glitch music, synthesized voice, etc. when interfaced with a Eurorack.Bartee, Jordan.
Oscillographic Block
. Special Stage Systems. Retrieved (via archive.org) 1 May 2020.

Modules

The Ming Mecca range included the following modules: * World Core – Manipulates the game world (video, physics, and collision) with pre-loaded graphics from an SD card * Control Core – Utilizes an NES controller to manipulate voltage with each button command passing analog input to control, e.g., sprite behavior * Oscillographic Block – Enables three channel digital synthesizer voice with integrated function generators, preset memory, algorithmic patch generators, and CV/gate control. Bartee has suggested that future module expansions to the World Core may include artificial intelligence, game logic, conditional statements, and sound.

Ming Micro

In early 2016, Special Stage Systems announced that it would be releasing a portable version of the Ming Mecca called the Ming Micro. Launching a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign in February 2016, the Ming Micro was fully funded in early March and manufacturing began with an estimated June delivery date.Bartee, Jordan.
Ming Micro: Portable 8-bit Video Synthesizer
. Kickstarter. February 2016. Initially billed as a stripped down low-cost alternative to the Ming Mecca, further development of the Micro resulted in its re-conception as the second generation of the Ming series. Whereas the Mecca employs analog interface with voltage control, the Micro is designed to use USB as its means of data transfer, and a MIDI controller for manual use.Pangburn, DJ.
Meet Ming Micro, the Portable 8-Bit Video and Audio Synthesizer
. '' Vice''. 9 February 2016. The central engine is designed to showcase graphics with the four main elements including sprites, tiles,

tile map A tile-based video game is a type of video or video game where the playing area consists of small square (or, much less often, rectangular, parallelogram, or hexagonal) graphic images referred to as ''tiles'' laid out in a grid. That the screen ...

s, and

palette Palette may refer to: * Cosmetic palette, an archaeological form * Palette, another name for a color scheme * Palette (painting), a wooden board used for mixing colors for a painting ** Palette knife, an implement for painting * Palette (company), ...

s. As previously, the Micro outputs NTSC composite video, and allows for storage via a SD card called the World Pack. In addition to the graphics engine, the Micro contains a simple audio synthesizer with two

square wave A square wave is a non-sinusoidal periodic waveform in which the amplitude alternates at a steady frequency between fixed minimum and maximum values, with the same duration at minimum and maximum. In an ideal square wave, the transitions b ...

s and a

noise generator A noise generator is a circuit that produces electrical noise (i.e., a random signal). Noise generators are used to test signals for measuring noise figure, frequency response, and other parameters. Noise generators are also used for generating ...

. To ensure the portability of the Ming Micro, parts of the Mecca's two cores have been stripped out so neither collision detection in the World Core nor NES controllers on the Control Core are available, however Bartee's intention was to increase visual aspects to appeal to VJs and chiptune musicians. Bartee has suggested that gaming controller interface may be expanded in the future via a current project called "Micro Mod".Yulman, Nick.
The Weird Virtual Worlds of Jordan Bartee's Pixel Instruments
. '' Medium''. 18 February 2016.

Development

The roots of the Ming Mecca emerged from Bartee's research into ontological toys as he worked on a doctoral thesis for

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

's Department of Music.Bartee, Jordan.
Ontological Toys
.

- Department of Music. 2014. Bartee's original interests sprang from his introduction to the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

as a child and his introduction to

circuit bending Circuit bending is the creative, chance-based customization of the circuits within electronic devices such as low-voltage, battery-powered guitar effects, children's toys and digital synthesizers to create new musical or visual instruments and ...

as a young adult. Fascinated by the concepts of aesthetic glitches and

virtual space Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), edu ...

, he developed a

-based

logic analyzer A logic analyzer is an electronic instrument that captures and displays multiple signals from a digital system or digital circuit. A logic analyzer may convert the captured data into timing diagrams, protocol decodes, state machine traces, a ...

early in his college career that he called the "Trimaxion Logic Listener". His experiences with the TLL led to a series of video performances that he termed "DIGIMANCY", and set the course for his graduate studies. Seeking to connect 2D video game worlds and

modular synthesizer Modular synthesizers are synthesizers composed of separate modules for different functions. The modules can be connected together by the user to create a patch. The outputs from the modules may include audio signals, analog control voltages, o ...

s as early as 2011, he began working on an interactive video synthesizer that he named after the "Ming Mecca" chip from Darren Aronofsky's 1998 film '' Pi''. Originally intended to interface with the Commodore 64, Bartee's recognition of the similarities between the TLL and the original NES Game Genie (which was better

documented A document is a written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ''Documentum'', which denotes a "teaching" or ...

and whose patent had recently expired) led him to switch the Ming Mecca to a NES-oriented program. After exploring the possibility of modifying and adapting an existing NES, Bartee decided that the complexities involved in retrofitting the console would take too long and the Ming Mecca became its own console designed from scratch. Borrowing the voltage-control (a central element of the original TLL), the NES graphics, and the modular aspects of fellow Brown student Chris Novello's "Illucia" program, the Ming Mecca was designed to interface with Eurorack synthesizers and produce visual output directly to an NTSC composite display.

Release

Marketed as a retro "videogame synthesizer" at shows like Indiecade 2013 and released by Special Stage Systems (today Analogue Haven and Perfect Circuit), the Ming Mecca became available in summer of 2014 with a retail price of $1000 for the World Core and $350 for the Control Core. Bartee also simultaneously released the schematics and source code for free download from the Special Stage Systems website. Launched via

campaign in February 2016, the Ming Micro was funded in early March and Special Stage Systems released the unit the same year with a retail price of $200 for the assembled unit or $175 for a DIY kit.Wilson, Scott.
Ming Micro is a synth that generates 8-bit sound and visuals
. ''

Fact A fact is a datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance, which, if accepted as true and proven true, allows a logical conclusion to be reached on a true–false evaluation. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scient ...

''. 2 October 2016.

Reception

Describing the Ming Mecca as "if a Nintendo Entertainment System and a recording studio mixing board had a baby", Kotaku's review praised the ad campaigns as fully embodying the dark and intense 80s vibe, and described the unit as "the weirdest piece of new video game hardware announced this year. Or maybe any year". Similarly impressed were reviewers at AnimalNewYork where, borrowing from Special Stage Systems' blurb, they acknowledged the system as "the ultimate god mode".Galperina, Marina.
Voltage-Controlled Videogame Glitch Console
. AnimalNewYork. 17 May 2013. Generally positive about the Ming Micro, which they referenced as "the ultimate pixel art instrument", ''

'' magazine did complain that the retro aspects like the composite video output requiring old CRT displays boosted "authenticity" at the expense of usability. As with Kotaku's review of the Mecca, Bartee was praised by Medium for his evocative VHS-quality videos used in his marketing campaign.

Fan reception and use

Having pledged more than three times the original Ming Micro target of $10,000 on Kickstarter, the Ming series has inspired use in

and

retrofuturistic Retrofuturism (adjective ''retrofuturistic'' or ''retrofuture'') is a movement in the creative arts showing the influence of depictions of the future produced in an earlier era. If futurism is sometimes called a "science" bent on anticipatin ...

visual artists. In an interview with '' Medium'', Bartee described his excitement with various indie projects using the Ming series, and points to Darren Blondin's further development of the Mecca to turn it into a graphical

sequencer Sequencer may refer to: Technology * Drum sequencer (controller), an electromechanical system for controlling a sequence of events automatically * DNA sequencer, a machine used to automatically produce a sequence readout from a biological DNA sam ...

as well Andrew Gibbs' adoption of the Mecca as a VJ rig for live chiptune shows.

References

External links

* *{{Internet Archive, id=20170509081147, name=Special Stage Systems - Oscillographic Block
Funded and closed Kickstarter campaign for Ming Micro
Monophonic synthesizers Analog synthesizers Modular synthesizers Musical instruments invented in the 2010s