User Manual
53A User’s Guide to Garritan World Instruments
Choosing Between Auto-Legato and Sustain-Pedal Legato (CC#64)
Since Garritan World Instruments gives two choices for legato creation, the question arises—which
should I use?
Auto-Legato is the most convenient method to use and can give good results when used as designed. It
has some limitations related to the way it handles polyphony. Its detection of overlapping notes, where
it automatically stops the rst of the overlapping notes in favor of the second, means that it functions
in what is commonly known as “mono mode.” is gives automatic transition control and the ability
to do easy trills, but it can only play one note at a time. It works well with any single line part.
All Standard instruments are, by default, in “mono” mode and can only play one note at a time under
any circumstances—just like a real instrument using standard performance techniques. So, with these
instruments it becomes a choice of convenience and one based on the relative smoothness of the note
transitions when comparing the two methods. e CC#64 method of manual legato is more exible
and usually provides smoother transitions, but requires more work on the part of the user. With the
manual approach it is up to the user to place the CC#64 “switch” data in the MIDI tracks as needed.
Most users will probably nd themselves using a combination of auto-legato and sustain-pedal le-
gato, the choice dictated by convenience, the requirements of the track, and the specic instruments
being used in the composition. In the case of single-line parts the user may wish to begin by using
the convenient Auto-Legato and change the approach to CC#64 only if Auto-Legato is insucient
for the desired results. e two techniques have slightly dierent sounds.