Designed as a MIDI pedal controller for performers with several MIDI controllable effects or instruments, the MIDI Wizard can be programmed to send patch change information to up to eight devices simultaneously and, by the utilisation of almost any volume control pedal in the user's possession, MIDI Controller data may also be transmitted.

The machine is of durable construction and features 12 footswitches in a black steel box. A row of coloured LEDs and a large, two-character LED give the only clues to the device's inner workings, and the back panel hosts MIDI In and Out sockets and eight quarter-inch sockets for the footpedals. The machine comes without a power supply, though the manual suggests a means of powering the unit from the internal power supply of one of the effects units using a normally unused conductor in the MIDI cable. This is relatively simple and very effective, but it would void the guarantee on the effects unit you decided to modify. For those not prepared for such adventures (and this includes myself), the Wizard's power input socket accepts any PSU generating between 7 and 15V AC/DC.

Setting the Wizard up is no easy business, since the deceptively concise manual elevates inscrutability to the status of an art form. As shipped, the machine is capable of sending out a patch change message on one specified MIDI channel. Calling up '11' on the LED transmits program change 11, calling up '33' transmits program change 33 and so on. Additional data can be latched onto any of these patch change messages so that further patch change commands on other MIDI channels may be transmitted simultaneously. This clearly offers a great advantage over peering at a rack of devices in the half light between songs. During the performance itself, the machine's ability to transmit controller data allows for far greater creativity. Most modern effects units allow a number of their parameters to be varied in real time via MIDI Controllers, and the Wizard can be programmed to transmit any MIDI Controller between 0 and 122.

Up to eight footpedals can be connected to the Wizard; each of these can transmit controller messages to the MIDI channels of the user's choice. Note that there is no way of calibrating the machine to the footpedal — the pedal during this review was only able to generate data between 85 and 114, rather than the full range of 0 to 127 and there was no apparent way to remedy this, short of obtaining another footpedal.

The Wizard is also equipped with a MIDI In socket, which makes it possible to merge data from a master keyboard with that from the Wizard, and then send all the data out to the rest of the system.

There's nothing wrong with the Wizard as a concept and, once understood, it performs admirably. But while writing this review, I began to believe that only that team of monkeys currently employed in typing out the complete works of Shakespeare would ever fathom what the manual is actually on about. Once you've hacked the manual, the machine makes far more sense, and though there are other devices available doing the same job, they tend to be rather more expensive.

Further Information
MIDI Wizard £179.95 Including VAT.

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