First of all, I want to say that the Performace Tool IS a great tool. This post is only for the people that don't want to, or cannot, use it, whatever reason they have.
Also, this is to make sure that I haven't missed any feature of the Performace Tool, so please correct me if you should fine a mistake here. Thanks in advance.
[The Legato Mode]
In this mode the PerfTool majorly does two things for you: keyswitching and timing.
I have checked the patches and found that one COULD have access to all the features using manual keyswitching, without the PerfTool. The only problem is that, if your keyboards only has 61 keys, you might want to reassign the fucntion keys to a more close-by area, like the higher octave of the cello/bass patches, and the lower octave of the violin/voila patches.
About timing (the ending time of the previous note and the starting time of the following note), you can always fix it later in the editor window so that's not a problem. It's just very troublesome.
[The Repetition Mode]
Now this is how I assume the repetition patches + mode works:
If you're using Kontakt, like me, load a xx_Perf-REP/xx_leg-rep patch, and press a note. You'll notice that it's a 5-time repetition of the same note, with the finishing note a bit longer.
Now press the 2nd keyswitching key C#0 (by default). You can open Kontakt's mapping editor and click on the virtual keyboards. Then press a note. You'll notice that this time it's a 4-time repetition. Eventually when you activate the last keyswitch E0, there's only the finishing note.
I check the samples of the same pitch on different groups (by double-clicking on that sample and Kontakt will show it in the loop editor), and found that, it's very likely that the 4-time repetition sample is the same as the 5-time repetition sample, only the very first note is cut-off. If this is true, basically they are all from the same sample.
It's like this:
C0 sample: S-2-3-4-F ("S" as starting note and "F" as finishing note)
C#0 sample: 2-3-4-F
D0 sample: 3-4-F
D#0 sample: 4-F
E0 sample: F
The Repetition Mode does its magic by keyswitching before every different note, so you'll have different sample triggered to avoid the "machine-gun effect". If you repeat a note 9 times you'll hear S-2-3-4-F-S-2-3-4.
Now since it's keyswitching, again one can do it manually. If you want the finishing note, just press E0 to trigger it. And again, you can still assign the keyswitching keys to where is convinient for you.
(We'll talk about the "Release Time" later in this post.)
[The Alternation Mode]
The PerfTool can do a lot in this mode, but the only useful feature for me is the auto down/up bow switching. Which, again, can be done manually without the PerfTool. I'm not trying to be a smart a**, but the other "styles" just don't seem too useful to me.
[About the Release Time]
My guess is that the PerfTool increase the release time of a note by delaying the note-off time. That's another reason why the repetition sounds more real. It's hard for one's finger to re-press the same note the instant he/she releases it.
To increase the release time without the PerfTool, you can simply increase it in Kontakt's editing window. But if you don't want the release time increased all the time, you can use the automation of the host software, or assign the release time to a MIDI controller.
(In Kontakt, right-click on the "release" button, and you'll see "automation". Choose it, and there's a menu on the top. "Host" will let you draw automation lines in the host software, and "MIDI CC" will let you assign this parameter to a MIDI controller. Simply choose one you don't use elsewhere.)
I'm a control freak myself, so I prefer doing all the keyswitching and editing myself. Yet it's still a great tool. When there's a deadline ahead, I'll definitely turn to the Legato Mode instead of "carving it" myself.
Also, this is to make sure that I haven't missed any feature of the Performace Tool, so please correct me if you should fine a mistake here. Thanks in advance.
[The Legato Mode]
In this mode the PerfTool majorly does two things for you: keyswitching and timing.
I have checked the patches and found that one COULD have access to all the features using manual keyswitching, without the PerfTool. The only problem is that, if your keyboards only has 61 keys, you might want to reassign the fucntion keys to a more close-by area, like the higher octave of the cello/bass patches, and the lower octave of the violin/voila patches.
About timing (the ending time of the previous note and the starting time of the following note), you can always fix it later in the editor window so that's not a problem. It's just very troublesome.
[The Repetition Mode]
Now this is how I assume the repetition patches + mode works:
If you're using Kontakt, like me, load a xx_Perf-REP/xx_leg-rep patch, and press a note. You'll notice that it's a 5-time repetition of the same note, with the finishing note a bit longer.
Now press the 2nd keyswitching key C#0 (by default). You can open Kontakt's mapping editor and click on the virtual keyboards. Then press a note. You'll notice that this time it's a 4-time repetition. Eventually when you activate the last keyswitch E0, there's only the finishing note.
I check the samples of the same pitch on different groups (by double-clicking on that sample and Kontakt will show it in the loop editor), and found that, it's very likely that the 4-time repetition sample is the same as the 5-time repetition sample, only the very first note is cut-off. If this is true, basically they are all from the same sample.
It's like this:
C0 sample: S-2-3-4-F ("S" as starting note and "F" as finishing note)
C#0 sample: 2-3-4-F
D0 sample: 3-4-F
D#0 sample: 4-F
E0 sample: F
The Repetition Mode does its magic by keyswitching before every different note, so you'll have different sample triggered to avoid the "machine-gun effect". If you repeat a note 9 times you'll hear S-2-3-4-F-S-2-3-4.
Now since it's keyswitching, again one can do it manually. If you want the finishing note, just press E0 to trigger it. And again, you can still assign the keyswitching keys to where is convinient for you.
(We'll talk about the "Release Time" later in this post.)
[The Alternation Mode]
The PerfTool can do a lot in this mode, but the only useful feature for me is the auto down/up bow switching. Which, again, can be done manually without the PerfTool. I'm not trying to be a smart a**, but the other "styles" just don't seem too useful to me.
[About the Release Time]
My guess is that the PerfTool increase the release time of a note by delaying the note-off time. That's another reason why the repetition sounds more real. It's hard for one's finger to re-press the same note the instant he/she releases it.
To increase the release time without the PerfTool, you can simply increase it in Kontakt's editing window. But if you don't want the release time increased all the time, you can use the automation of the host software, or assign the release time to a MIDI controller.
(In Kontakt, right-click on the "release" button, and you'll see "automation". Choose it, and there's a menu on the top. "Host" will let you draw automation lines in the host software, and "MIDI CC" will let you assign this parameter to a MIDI controller. Simply choose one you don't use elsewhere.)
I'm a control freak myself, so I prefer doing all the keyswitching and editing myself. Yet it's still a great tool. When there's a deadline ahead, I'll definitely turn to the Legato Mode instead of "carving it" myself.