THE MIRACLE - AN OBJECTIVE VIEW 

                              Daniel Rutter


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    Holding pride of place at the recent World Of Commodore Amiga show
  was, of course, the CDTV, stupidly subtitled "Commodore Dynamic Total
  Vision," but we all know what it really means. This mighty launch was
  somewhat unfortunate for Mindscape, because they chose the same show to
  launch their new "Miracle" piano teaching system, which got a little
  shaded by the Little Black Box. Neither were they greatly assisted by
  their somewhat grating American demonstrators (I find it unlikely that
  the system is so complex that local demonstrators could not be trained
  in time for the show - and why were all the show organisers, from whom I
  procured my snazzy little "Exhibitor" badge, likewise from the US? Just
  a shower of merry freeloaders seizing the chance for an Aussie holiday
  in the off-season), and endless repetitions of the first three bars of
  the "Ode To Joy" and sundry other snippets of eminently forgettable
  tunes, not to mention all of them grinning like split melons non-stop.

    But anyone who could stomach the presentation (and the tacky Cecil B.
  de Mille Ten Commandments cardboard marble arch over the whole shebang)
  could see that the system had a lot of promise; the presenters, however,
  were a tad short on hard data, and unapproachable for questioning in
  the Show crush. So I absented myself relievedly from the front-of-house
  mayhem and retired to a more modest stand towards the back of the
  cavernous chunk out of the Darling Harbour Exhibition Centre reserved
  for the Show, where another Miracle was visible, with some attendants
  more amenable to enquiries.

WHAT IT IS
    Before I continue, it's probable that more than a few of those reading
  this won't be familiar with what the Miracle system actually comprises.
  In essence, you get a small (four octave) keyboard, with two onboard
  speakers, velocity sensitivity (i.e., the harder you hit, the more
  noise it makes), 128 onboard sounds, 8 channel multi-timbral capacity
  (so it can play 8 different instruments at once) and 16 note polyphony
  (so it can play 16 individual notes simultaneously), a split keyboard
  feature (to play different "instruments" on each half of the keyboard),
  MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) in and out sockets, a
  sustain pedal and a special port on the back for hookup to the computer.
  This all hooks up to your Amiga or PC compatible running the Miracle
  software.

    And a quick plug for myself - I've been playing various keyboards
  since the age of 6, gave up actual learning some time ago (never having
  got round to learning to read music), and now happily stuff about
  playing the blues.

HARDWARE
    Now a brief analysis of the hardware. The keyboard is made by Roland,
  and feels reasonably similar to that of my own slightly elderly Roland
  D5 synthesiser, although more heavily weighted and not as sturdy - it's
  not designed to survive use with a band, nor need it be. My D5 will
  tolerate enormous slams on the keys without missing a beat; I suspect
  the Miracle would come to bits with alacrity under such punishment (not
  that I had much of a chance to check this out, given the circumstances).
  The velocity sensitivity is fine, not astonishing but perfectly
  functional. There is no aftertouch sensitivity - after the note has
  been struck, subsequent changes in finger pressure do nothing, as is the
  case with all cheaper keyboards. There is no bender lever (the little
  wiggly bit that lets you shift the pitch of the sound while playing),
  which is, I suppose, just as well on a machine designed for teaching
  kids. There is a headphone socket (so parents can avoid hearing
  "Chopsticks" for the 498th time). The lack of a MIDI "thru" socket may
  annoy those who want to use the Miracle in a classroom situation, as the
  thru is what lets you daisy-chain keyboards, with input from one MIDI
  device going both into each keyboard through the in socket, and being
  relayed through the thru. Virtually all "real" keyboards have all
  three sockets. Mind you, there's nothing to stop a third-party "thru
  box" from being hooked up to the in port, but this costs.

    The range of the keyboard makes it virtually useless for truly
  involved playing; five octaves is basically the standard for small
  synths today, with seven or eight on bigger models and real pianos.
  It's fine for the absolute beginner and for a few stages above that,
  but this size keyboard is really still generally found only on little
  almost-toy keyboards by Casio and suchlike.

    The technical specs of the keyboard, however, are truly remarkable for
  the price. My D5 is eight-part multi-timbral, just like the Miracle,
  but also features a drum track, making nine in all. Mine has nominally
  32 voices (against the 16 of the Miracle) , but since this figure is
  based on using only a 1-partial sound, and many on the D5 contain four,
  this means my synth often can manage only 8 notes at once. The Miracle
  has 128 instruments, which cannot be modified; mine has 64
  non-modifiable sounds, 64 alterable ones, and a further 128 "patches" -
  combinations of up to two of the existing sounds, in different
  proportions and with various other bells and whistles. My D5 can also
  accept memory cards, each containing another 128 sounds and 128 patches,
  which is something the Miracle can't manage. The Miracle has a built in
  amplifier and stereo speakers (of no particular distinction, but
  adequate to the task) - mine has not, like all other true stage
  synthesisers. Both can be easily hooked up to home stereos or band
  amplifiers; neither has any sort of onboard reverb system (to make it
  sound like it's in a hall, room or suchlike; a very important feature
  for realistic pipe organ sounds, amongst other things), although I've
  hooked my D5 up to a Boss (also made by Roland, I'm a great proponent
  of brand loyalty) RE1000 reverb.  As a final hardware comparison, my D5
  originally (in 1988) set me back more than $1200 and can now be had (if
  you can track one down) for around $800 new; the complete Miracle system
  costs (very slightly) less than $700.

GOOD SOFTWARE
    But it's the software that really makes the Miracle shine; it's about
  as good as you can make an educational system. The problem with these
  systems has always been that in the field of software, as in so many
  others, the devil has all the best tunes. Everything a parent doesn't
  much want their kid to do holds a magnetic attraction for them, and all
  the educational programs (with a few extraordinary exceptions like
  Carmen Sandiego and Discovery) possessed all the excitement value of
  three pounds of cold broccoli. The Miracle system manages to beat this
  about as well as you could expect anything to.

    Learners are led through various games and routines, with continuous
  evaluation of their performance, concentration on weak areas and general
  positive reinforcement, including quite good orchestral accompaniment
  when the program is satisfied with their ability. The reason I never
  learnt to read music was partly because I learned by the Suzuki method,
  which concentrates on learning by ear and tends to produce these sorts
  of problems, and partly because I'm naturally a pretty indolent sort of
  cuss who wouldn't work in an iron lung unless paid handsomely.
  However, had I learnt with this system, I'm pretty sure even my
  rock-solid determination not to learn a damn thing would have been
  cracked; learners get to shoot birds in a shooting gallery, rescue
  hapless parachutists, blast aliens and generally muck about whilst that
  improve their sight-reading, fingering and so forth; an excellent
  system, magnificently designed and impeccably presented.

BOOGIE THAT PENTATONIC
    I do have some complaints about the software, however. The available
  tunes for kids to learn tend heavily towards the classical and extremely
  pedestrian popular, with rock getting a minimal representation. No kid
  wants to show off at a party by playing excerpts from "Carmen"; a few
  simple twelve-bar blues/boogie pieces would not have gone amiss, or
  perhaps an advanced tutorial on the blues scale, which is after all only
  a simple modified pentatonic and dead easy to make a reasonable fist of,
  in the key of C at least, if you have any musical talent at all. Mind
  you, this is a pretty minor caveat - the only real shortcoming I can see
  of the system is its small keyboard, which is largely made up for by the
  extremely reasonable price.

    In summary, this system is not a toy, is in fact a very real
  alternative to a costly series of piano lessons and the possible
  purchase of a piano for the home - even a passable electric piano costs
  the thick end of $1000, while an acoustic is $3000+ for quality; grands
  are even more costly.

    The Miracle works, works well, and deserves serious consideration. It
  will indubitably go down in the annals of Amiga history as a classic of
  overall design, along with the Amiga 1000 case and the official
  Commodore mouse.

    P.S. - Just kidding about that last one.


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