# Studio One Sound Variations Q&A



## Lukas (Apr 20, 2021)

Many have asked for more videos on Sound Variations, especially for users who are just starting out with Studio One. But even for more experienced users, the difference between Sound Variations and the Sound Variation VST extension might prove somehow confusing...

So I thought I'd make a Studio One Sound Variations Q&A 




I first planned to cover the different ways of adding / assigning SVs in this video as well but I decided to make a second video on this topic.

If there should be more questions, we might collect them here and I might address them in another video.


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## Christian Javet (Apr 20, 2021)

Great video. I posted the feature request for Sound Variation in the Kontakt forum (https://www.native-instruments.com/forum/threads/sound-variations-support-for-studio-one.452467/)


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## stigc56 (Apr 20, 2021)

Thanks a Lukas, hope you will get rewarded by Presonus.
I want to ask you about the next step in your tutorial, because as you may know, Patchboard has just been launched for "the ordinary user". I got the impression that the remote for S1 can act as a kind of articulation switcher, so I'm particularly interested in your information regarding this, regarding my choice of future DAW.


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## Lukas (Apr 20, 2021)

stigc56 said:


> I want to ask you about the next step in your tutorial, because as you may know, Patchboard has just been launched for "the ordinary user". I got the impression that the remote for S1 can act as a kind of articulation switcher, so I'm particularly interested in your information regarding this, regarding my choice of future DAW.


Yes, this will be my next video (or one of the next...)  Currently, the S1 Remote view is based on macros, it's not "dynamic" and will not change automatically when you switch tracks in Studio One. So it's more for your generic articulations (long/sustain, short/staccato, legato, tremolo etc.). But the benefit compared to an external app is that you don't need to add all your keyswitches or MIDI CC data for every instrument because it will automatically recall matching Sound Variations for the currently selected track in Studio One. Of course, you can add more pages on the Remote for your more exotic articulations or even for particular libraries or patches.






So until Studio One Remote allows real-time panels for Sound Variations, both have their advantages.


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## dcoscina (Jul 24, 2021)

Is anyone else having troubles with Sound Variations not working since 5.3? I never had issues previously, but even with the built-in variations for OPUS and VSL, they aren't working here for me... weird.


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## Lukas (Jul 24, 2021)

"not working" means...?


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## muziksculp (Jul 24, 2021)

Sound-Variations working fine here. Studio One Pro 5.3 / Windows 10


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## dcoscina (Jul 24, 2021)

Lukas said:


> "not working" means...?


Not triggering key switches in any of the libraries… except audio Imperia nucleus oddly enough… weird. So it doesn’t work with opus, or even VSL which used to work fine.


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## ennbr (Jul 24, 2021)

dcoscina said:


> Not triggering key switches in any of the libraries… except audio Imperia nucleus oddly enough… weird. So it doesn’t work with opus, or even VSL which used to work fine.


Not seeing any problems I'm running Studio One 5.3 with Opus 1.0.3 Vst3 version on a Mac


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## christiansk (Aug 4, 2021)

Hey, does anyone know if there's a way of adding sound variations that other people made?

So, I recently bought bbcso core, it has tons of keyswitches and I found the files for them, add them to the corresponding folder but studio one doesn't seem to load or even refresh the sound variations list. I am not a presonus sphere member, but I using the latest version of studio one. Anyone have any tips?


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## Lukas (Aug 4, 2021)

1.) Click "Re-Index Presets" in the Home tab of the Studio One browser. That should help if all files are in the right location.

2.) In PreSonus Exchange you find more than 50 Sound Variation presets for BBCSO (for free). You should be able to load them right within the program without having to deal with any files or folders manually.


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## dcoscina (Aug 4, 2021)

Lukas said:


> 1.) Click "Re-Index Presets" in the Home tab of the Studio One browser. That should help if all files are in the right location.
> 
> 2.) In PreSonus Exchange you find more than 50 Sound Variation presets for BBCSO (for free). You should be able to load them right within the program without having to deal with any files or folders manually.


Thanks!


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## SteveC (Aug 11, 2021)

When I create sound variations for Kontakt with 2 channels, the variations work when I click on the notes but not when I play the phrase.  Im new to S1, so maybe my failure?
Greetings

Edit:
Solved! Not working: A# | CH2 - works: CH2 | A#


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## Lukas (Aug 13, 2021)

SteveC said:


> A# | CH2 - works: CH2 | A#


Sure, you need to switch the channel before sending any notes to it


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## SteveC (Aug 13, 2021)

Lukas said:


> Sure, you need to switch the channel before sending any notes to it


Sounds logical. Didn't know that it's possible to set the channel in the first position! I really love S1 for the "sound variations" and preset feature.


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## Oxytoxine (Aug 18, 2021)

Short question for you sound variation gurus. 
Do i understand correctly that the S1 remote is based on macros and that the macro just searches for a sound articultion with a matching name?

So in order to create my own sound variations (that one can then trigger from the remote app) I a) first have to create the sound variations map in S1 and then b) create a macro for each of the articulations, with the search string in the macro creator exactly matching the name of the corresponding sound variation?

I am a bit confused because there is also the option in the remote app to directly select "variation 1", "variation 2" etc., in the remote app, but then I would have to remember for each track / instrument which articulation is nr. 1, nr. 2 etc., which seems to be not feasible for my small brain. And furthermore there seem to be "only" 20 slots for sound variations available (Variations 1 - 20).

If using the first approach, it might be feasible to build a "unified" articulation set for every vsti / instrument, but I would still have to remember which articulations / sound variations are present in each lib, which gets quickly out of hand with libraries like MSS, Chris Hein or VSL which have so many different articulations (that are also named differently some times).

Hence, I wonder what a practical approach could be when using S1 remote for the switching? Am I completely off track with the above, or would this be the way to go?

I also bought Metagrid, but this seems to be based on Studio One V 4.6, and there are no macros I could choose for the articulation switching thing :(

Sorry for the noob question and the probably not well worded question above - maybe someone understands nevertheless what I meant and could guide me in the right direction?
Thanks so much!


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## Lukas (Aug 18, 2021)

@Oxytoxine You described it pretty perfectly already 

You can decide between using the "Apply Variation 1-20" commands or the "Find and Apply Variation" command + search string.

This being said, building a macro page makes the most sense for generic articulations like Short or Staccato, Sustain, Legato etc. and not so much for mirroring all your custom variation maps for every library (too much work to set it up and too tedious to switch between the different maps/pages).

For more exotic variations (say different flute ornaments in Forest Kingdom), my personal prefered way is to use the "Apply Previous" and "Apply Next" commands and the "Find and Apply" command without any parameters so that you can quickly select these variations by using the keyboard.


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## Oxytoxine (Aug 19, 2021)

Lukas said:


> @Oxytoxine You described it pretty perfectly already
> 
> You can decide between using the "Apply Variation 1-20" commands or the "Find and Apply Variation" command + search string.
> 
> ...



Dear Lukas

Thank you very much for taking the time for such a comprehensive and very helpful response!👍 I think that I am starting to grasp the system now.

I was secretly hoping that you would write „just press this button, and all your articulations will be automagically named and dynamically populate the S1 remote app depending on which track is selected“  

But joking aside: I like the sound variation system in S1 a lot, and there is not much missing in the S1 remote app to allow for a really great integration that will make other apps such as Metagrid et al superfluous. I hope that Presonus will develop it further. 

It is probably inevitable that this whole articulation switching thing can grow into a complex setup fast when working with many articulations (especially when using VSL with its multidimensional articulations), but this seems to be the nature of the beast. I will experiment with either a) buy the Babylonwaves maps - if they really all share the same inherent logic, it seems to be easy to just use the "Apply Variation 1-20" commands (if this is sufficient), or b) just use the „Apply Previous" and "Apply Next" etc. commands - thanks for the tip, I would not have thought of that. 

And apropos thanks: thank you so much for all your videos - that is tremendously helpful! 😃

All the best

Oxy


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## Lukas (Aug 19, 2021)

Oxytoxine said:


> I was secretly hoping that you would write „just press this button, and all your articulations will be automagically named and dynamically populate the S1 remote app depending on which track is selected“


Yes, I totally agree.... that would definitely be great. But you know, small team... many feature requests. Things take time  What we now have is something like a Sound Variations V1.0 and the macro workflow can already save a ton of work. It's totally clear that there's much room for improvement, also in terms of dynamic Sound Variation views.



Oxytoxine said:


> It is probably inevitable that this whole articulation switching thing can grow into a complex setup fast when working with many articulations (especially when using VSL with its multidimensional articulations), but this seems to be the nature of the beast. I will experiment with either a) buy the Babylonwaves maps - if they really all share the same inherent logic, it seems to be easy to just use the "Apply Variation 1-20" commands (if this is sufficient), or b) just use the „Apply Previous" and "Apply Next" etc. commands - thanks for the tip, I would not have thought of that.


I used to assign the "Apply Variation 1-10" commands to the first 10 buttons on my M-Audio Axiom Pro 49. But with the "Apply Previous / Next" commands I don't really use them anymore. I don't know which button hides which articulation anyway, so I have to try them out anyway (or select them directly "by name").


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## Adamskin (Sep 29, 2021)

Lukas said:


> Many have asked for more videos on Sound Variations, especially for users who are just starting out with Studio One. But even for more experienced users, the difference between Sound Variations and the Sound Variation VST extension might prove somehow confusing...
> 
> So I thought I'd make a Studio One Sound Variations Q&A
> 
> ...



Hey Lukas, do you know if there's a way to convert sound variations back to normal key switches? I'm trying to export a midi file to a friend who's using logic but the sound variations (keyswitch notes) don't appear to be sent with the midi file...


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## Lukas (Sep 29, 2021)

There's no option for including Sound Variations in exported MIDI files yet. This is obviously essential when working with notation software or other DAWs.

Actually, it's not just Key Switches because Sound Variations can also mean Program Changes/Bank Changes, Channel Changes and MIDI CCs. Anyway, that would be an important feature.






Option for including Sound Variations (Keyswitches etc.) in exported MIDI Files - Questions & Answers | PreSonus


When working with notation software or when exchanging arrangements with other DAWs, it's ... . Currently, Sound Variations are just missing.



answers.presonus.com


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## G_Erland (Dec 29, 2021)

SteveC said:


> When I create sound variations for Kontakt with 2 channels, the variations work when I click on the notes but not when I play the phrase.  Im new to S1, so maybe my failure?
> Greetings
> 
> Edit:
> Solved! Not working: A# | CH2 - works: CH2 | A#


Aha! (I hope)


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## G_Erland (Dec 29, 2021)

G_Erland said:


> Aha! (I hope)


afraid not…i must be doing something wrong. I cant control that, it has to say C0|CH1. I cant get it working…ill watch Lukas’ videoes again


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## Lukas (Dec 29, 2021)

C0|CH1 means:

1. Send note C0 (currently active channel)
2. Switch to channel 1

You most likely want to select the channel first and then send the note.


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## G_Erland (Dec 29, 2021)

Lukas said:


> C0|CH1 means:
> 
> 1. Send note C0 (currently active channel)
> 2. Switch to channel 1
> ...


Yes, and thank you - but i cant change where C0 goes and where CH1 goes in the SV editor…


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## Lukas (Dec 29, 2021)

Not exactly sure what the issue is. Do you mean you don't know how to change the order in the list? The easist way is to click into the table (the left one) and just edit the text (C0|CH1) directly. If you want to to that in the other table (side panel), you need to delete one row and add another at the end of the list to change the order.


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## G_Erland (Dec 29, 2021)

Lukas said:


> Not exactly sure what the issue is. Do you mean you don't know how to change the order in the list? The easist way is to click into the table (the left one) and just edit the text (C0|CH1) directly. If you want to to that in the other table (side panel), you need to delete one row and add another at the end of the list to change the order.


Sorry if im unclear - i simply mean that if i edit the text like you say, where i put CH1 reverts back to C0…but just now i realise, theres that list on the right and that might control the sequence of entries here..


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## Lukas (Dec 29, 2021)

If it reverts, then you have an invalid value in the text. Maybe you forgot the | separator?


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## G_Erland (Dec 29, 2021)

Lukas said:


> If it reverts, then you have an invalid value in the text. Maybe you forgot the | separator?


It just worked all of a sudden! Thanks for the help!


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## wcreed51 (Dec 31, 2021)

When SVs are assigned to musical symbols, and those are used in score view, articulations playback properly. Fine. But if you flip back to PRV, there are no SVs showing in the Sound Variation View under the PRV. Isn't that rather odd?

Also, I don't see a way to assign SVs in score view, which seems a bit half baked.

What am I missing?


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## G_Erland (Jan 4, 2022)

I have a Q. So i got Berlin strings. I use OTs Sine player. Made a long setup with all the instrument variations in folders etc. I used midi channels 1-5 or something for the different articulation sets in each instrument. So, some instruments use keys C0 - to C1, say - and other instruments have those notes in their playable range. I now have, for those instruments a lane of keys in the midi editor that i cant record or transpose into. I can draw in notes, but if i tell S1 to disable keyswitches the lane goes away, but the notes dont sound in that range. Did i manage to explain it? Any ideas?


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## Lukas (Jan 4, 2022)

G_Erland said:


> I can draw in notes, but if i tell S1 to disable keyswitches the lane goes away, but the notes dont sound in that range.


They should sound, actually. If Key Switches are disabled, the "Input" row in the Sound Variation editor is entirely ignored and all notes on these pitches are sent to the instrument.

Of course, you need to disable Key Switches first and then insert notes in this range. If you added notes at pitches that are highlighted red in the Editor, these will create Sound Variations and they use the Activation Sequence pitches (or any MIDI messages assigned here).


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## demattia (Jan 4, 2022)

Long time lurker, first time poster. Any sound variation repositories available? I have been setting up my own, which is good to get the concept, but it does take quite a bit of time.


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## GtrString (Jan 4, 2022)

Off to get the Babylonwaves template for S1! Ty


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## Lukas (Jan 4, 2022)

demattia said:


> Any sound variation repositories available?


Yes, on PreSonus Exchange... or use https://s1toolbox.com to convert Cubase Expression Maps or Cubase Patch Scripts or Cakewalk Instrument Definitions to Sound Variations.


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## G_Erland (Jan 4, 2022)

Lukas said:


> They should sound, actually. If Key Switches are disabled, the "Input" row in the Sound Variation editor is entirely ignored and all notes on these pitches are sent to the instrument.
> 
> Of course, you need to disable Key Switches first and then insert notes in this range. If you added notes at pitches that are highlighted red in the Editor, these will create Sound Variations and they use the Activation Sequence pitches (or any MIDI messages assigned here).


Thanks again! But this is what happens - the celli lowest note is C1, but when i disable key switches, i cant get the piano roll to sound lower than B1. The notes in the range sound when i play the keyboard, but no midi notes are recorded when i try.


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## demattia (Jan 4, 2022)

Lukas said:


> Yes, on PreSonus Exchange... or use https://s1toolbox.com to convert Cubase Expression Maps or Cubase Patch Scripts or Cakewalk Instrument Definitions to Sound Variations.


Last I checked on the Exchange there were hardly any there (at least not for the libraries I have), but that was a while ago so I'll give it another try, thanks!


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## ennbr (Jan 4, 2022)

demattia said:


> Last I checked on the Exchange there were hardly any there (at least not for the libraries I have), but that was a while ago so I'll give it another try, thanks!


Did you look under the category of Keyswitches you'll find hundreds of them in that category


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## demattia (Jan 4, 2022)

ennbr said:


> Did you look under the category of Keyswitches you'll find hundreds of them in that category


I think what I did wrong was that I looked from inside Studio One, just checked on their website and there are many, many more there. You live and learn


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## ennbr (Jan 4, 2022)

I see them using Studio One 5 browser but specifically check the Other category someone did a huge dump of files in Other.

If you can't find it and have something specific your looking for someone may have created the files and not posted them on the Presonus site. I myself have built keyswitch files for dozens of different libs but never took the time to share them.


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## Lukas (Jan 4, 2022)

demattia said:


> I think what I did wrong was that I looked from inside Studio One, just checked on their website and there are many, many more there. You live and learn


There shouldn't be any differences between searching in the S1 Browser and on the website. It's the same endpoint actually.


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## Endhucarter (Dec 19, 2022)

Is it normal that "Track Presets" does not recall the loaded "Sound Variation" active when created? I I was so disappointed when I found out.


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## wcreed51 (Dec 19, 2022)

Me too!


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## Endhucarter (Dec 19, 2022)

Yet I cannot find anyone talking about this and no feature request. I was going to replace my templates with multiple track presets but without the track variations included that is pointless unfortunately. Maybe in a next update?


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## sundrowned (Dec 19, 2022)

Endhucarter said:


> Is it normal that "Track Presets" does not recall the loaded "Sound Variation" active when created? I I was so disappointed when I found out.


I haven't been using track presets extensively yet but what about if you chose the specific sound variation you want as the 'Default Score Variation'? (there's a check box in the right panel of the sound variation editor window. 

It'll apply that variation to anything that doesn't have one applied so when you load up a preset it'll be the default variation.


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## Lukas (Dec 19, 2022)

Endhucarter said:


> Is it normal that "Track Presets" does not recall the loaded "Sound Variation" active when created?


Actually, yes. I can see why you might want that (depending on how you use Sound Variations). But it's not specific about Track Presets. Track Presets work pretty much like songs. If you load Violins (with Sustain being the default sound variation) and select the Staccato variation, then you save the song, close and open it again, it will default to Sustain. So Track Presets just work the same way. You need to add a Sound Variation change in the editor (record, draw in, use a macro..) to make it permanent.


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## Endhucarter (Dec 20, 2022)

I was talking about the Sound Variations I had setup in the SV window :





It appears blank when reloading the saved Track Preset.
I just discovered that it only happens when you load the Track Preset in the same .song!
If I create a new .song and load my Track Preset, the Sound Variations are here.


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## wcreed51 (Dec 20, 2022)

Also, mapping the musical symbols isn't saved, which is a PITA


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## sundrowned (Dec 20, 2022)

Endhucarter said:


> I was talking about the Sound Variations I had setup in the SV window :
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Strange, works properly for me.


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## sundrowned (Dec 20, 2022)

wcreed51 said:


> Also, mapping the musical symbols isn't saved, which is a PITA


Works for me.


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## Heinigoldstein (Dec 22, 2022)

G_Erland said:


> Thanks again! But this is what happens - the celli lowest note is C1, but when i disable key switches, i cant get the piano roll to sound lower than B1. The notes in the range sound when i play the keyboard, but no midi notes are recorded when i try.


Sorry to capture this old threat, but I consider to move over to S1 from Logic and this is one of my concerns. I have a lot of customised ID articulation sets in Logic. F.e. All articulations of Berlin Strings, including expansions in one set Starting from C-2 up to C3. In Logic the articulation IDs are on a separate channel, so it doesn´t matter if when the IDs have an overlapping key range with the actual instrument. AND you have the possibility, to use the same set of IDs for basses, celli, violas, violins. Is there any way to achiv this in S1 ?


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