Sound Variations Panel Not Showing in Inspector — Workaround Using “Convert Key Switches to Sound Variations”

[rst44e]

I’ve encountered a persistent bug where the Sound Variations panel does not appear in the Inspector pane even though a Sound Variation map is active on the track. This prevents easy editing of articulations and complicates working with orchestral libraries like BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Issue details:

• The track has a valid Sound Variation map loaded (e.g., BBCSO Core Preset).
• Key switches work when drawn manually in the piano roll.
• However, the Sound Variations panel in the Inspector often refuses to show, making it difficult to manage articulations visually.
• This bug can appear after downloading presets from the cloud, reopening projects, or seemingly at random.

Workaround:
I found a practical workaround that bypasses the missing panel issue entirely:

1. Draw your keyswitch notes manually in the piano roll as usual.
2. Use the “Action” menu (near Quantize) in the piano roll and select “Convert Key Switches to Sound Variations.”
3. This replaces the keyswitch notes with horizontal Sound Variation bars labeled with articulation names.
4. You can then edit, move, or remove these variation bars directly in the piano roll editor without needing the Inspector panel.

Benefit:
This method works even when the Sound Variations panel does not show up, providing a stable and visual way to edit articulations that avoids the UI bug.

 

[Lukas]

Did you try resizing the Note Editor? If the Editor is too small (not enough height), the SV won't show up.

 

[rst44e]

Resizing does not help. But that is just a smaller issue. The real issue is when the sound variation panel does show up it disappears as soon as I try selecting notes with my mouse to choose an effect. It reappears when I click any where else on the editor except for a note.

 

[Lukas]

I'd like to reproduce this issue but I can't.

Would it be possible for you to make a quick video showing that the Sound Variation section isn’t visible, even though there’s an SV map active for the track?
And could you please resize the Note Editor height as well, just to confirm it’s not simply hidden due to lack of space?