New Bard Performance is... pretty bad.

[Rongway]

Before they even announced the new interface, I was already playing with twelve keys and changing octaves with modifiers, so nothing significant has changed for me except that the new system is much more responsive during passages with brighter tempos (seriously, you can actually play Overture from William Tell at tempo now. You would have had to play it at about 60% with the old system).

I have no idea who put together the sounds for the instruments, but they clearly have no idea what a fiddle is supposed to sound like

It's pizzicato (plucked). It sounds exactly how it's supposed to sound.