diff --git a/slab/menuband/Sources/MenuBand/InstrumentMapView.swift b/slab/menuband/Sources/MenuBand/InstrumentMapView.swift
index 85d3a6c4fd..af5cfff8fc 100644
--- a/slab/menuband/Sources/MenuBand/InstrumentMapView.swift
+++ b/slab/menuband/Sources/MenuBand/InstrumentMapView.swift
@@ -302,17 +302,17 @@ final class InstrumentListView: NSView {
                 cap.lineWidth = 1.4
                 cap.stroke()
             } else {
-                accent.withAlphaComponent(0.10).setFill()
+                accent.withAlphaComponent(0.30).setFill()
                 cap.fill()
-                accent.withAlphaComponent(0.55).setStroke()
-                cap.lineWidth = 0.8
+                accent.withAlphaComponent(0.85).setStroke()
+                cap.lineWidth = 1.0
                 cap.stroke()
             }
             let labelText = "0  MIDI OUT"
             let labelColor: NSColor = midiModeActive ? .white : .labelColor
             let labelAttrs: [NSAttributedString.Key: Any] = [
                 .font: NSFont.systemFont(ofSize: 10.5, weight: .semibold),
-                .foregroundColor: labelColor.withAlphaComponent(midiModeActive ? 1.0 : 0.85),
+                .foregroundColor: labelColor,
                 .kern: 0.4,
             ]
             let str = NSAttributedString(string: labelText, attributes: labelAttrs)
@@ -332,13 +332,13 @@ final class InstrumentListView: NSView {
                 tint.withAlphaComponent(0.85).setFill(); cap.fill()
                 tint.setStroke(); cap.lineWidth = 1.4; cap.stroke()
             } else {
-                tint.withAlphaComponent(0.10).setFill(); cap.fill()
-                tint.withAlphaComponent(0.55).setStroke(); cap.lineWidth = 0.8; cap.stroke()
+                tint.withAlphaComponent(0.30).setFill(); cap.fill()
+                tint.withAlphaComponent(0.85).setStroke(); cap.lineWidth = 1.0; cap.stroke()
             }
             let labelColor: NSColor = sampleBackendActive ? .white : .labelColor
             let str = NSAttributedString(string: "SAMPLE", attributes: [
                 .font: NSFont.systemFont(ofSize: 10.5, weight: .semibold),
-                .foregroundColor: labelColor.withAlphaComponent(sampleBackendActive ? 1.0 : 0.85),
+                .foregroundColor: labelColor,
                 .kern: 0.4,
             ])
             let size = str.size()
@@ -361,8 +361,8 @@ final class InstrumentListView: NSView {
                 teal.withAlphaComponent(0.85).setFill(); cap.fill()
                 teal.setStroke(); cap.lineWidth = 1.4; cap.stroke()
             } else {
-                teal.withAlphaComponent(0.10).setFill(); cap.fill()
-                teal.withAlphaComponent(0.55).setStroke(); cap.lineWidth = 0.8; cap.stroke()
+                teal.withAlphaComponent(0.30).setFill(); cap.fill()
+                teal.withAlphaComponent(0.85).setStroke(); cap.lineWidth = 1.0; cap.stroke()
             }
             let attrs: [NSAttributedString.Key: Any] = [
                 .font: NSFont.systemFont(ofSize: 9, weight: .semibold),
diff --git a/slab/menuband/Sources/MenuBand/PianoWaveformWindow/ExpandedPianoWaveformView.swift b/slab/menuband/Sources/MenuBand/PianoWaveformWindow/ExpandedPianoWaveformView.swift
index 79b450d3c7..e1cca287d5 100644
--- a/slab/menuband/Sources/MenuBand/PianoWaveformWindow/ExpandedPianoWaveformView.swift
+++ b/slab/menuband/Sources/MenuBand/PianoWaveformWindow/ExpandedPianoWaveformView.swift
@@ -296,13 +296,13 @@ final class ExpandedPianoWaveformView: NSView {
         llmButton.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
         modeStack.addArrangedSubview(llmButton)
         let modeSpecs: [(label: String, image: NSImage?, tag: Int)] = [
-            ("Notepat",
+            ("Default",
              NotepatFavicon.image
-                ?? NSImage(systemSymbolName: "keyboard", accessibilityDescription: "Notepat")?
+                ?? NSImage(systemSymbolName: "keyboard", accessibilityDescription: "Default")?
                     .withSymbolConfiguration(modeSymbol),
              0),
-            ("Conventional",
-             NSImage(systemSymbolName: "pianokeys", accessibilityDescription: "Conventional")?
+            ("AWSED",
+             NSImage(systemSymbolName: "pianokeys", accessibilityDescription: "AWSED")?
                 .withSymbolConfiguration(modeSymbol),
              1),
         ]
@@ -336,6 +336,16 @@ final class ExpandedPianoWaveformView: NSView {
         gamepadToggle.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
         self.gamepadToggle = gamepadToggle
         modeStack.addArrangedSubview(gamepadToggle)
+        // "?" — why these layouts? Opens the keymaps paper (bundled PDF in
+        // Preview, or the hosted URL). Momentary, sits at the right of the row.
+        let whyButton = NSButton(title: "?", target: self,
+                                 action: #selector(openKeymapsPaper(_:)))
+        whyButton.bezelStyle = .recessed
+        whyButton.setButtonType(.momentaryPushIn)
+        whyButton.controlSize = .regular
+        whyButton.toolTip = "Why this layout? — open the keymaps paper"
+        whyButton.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
+        modeStack.addArrangedSubview(whyButton)
         contentStack.addArrangedSubview(modeStack)
         for label in [focusHintLabel, octaveHintLabel, layoutHintLabel] {
             label.font = NSFont.systemFont(ofSize: 10, weight: .bold)
@@ -544,6 +554,19 @@ final class ExpandedPianoWaveformView: NSView {
         LLMGuideWindowController.show()
     }
 
+    /// "Why this layout?" — opens the keymaps paper: the bundled PDF (in
+    /// Preview, offline) if present, else the canonical hosted URL in the
+    /// browser.
+    @objc private func openKeymapsPaper(_ sender: NSButton) {
+        if let url = Bundle.appResources.url(
+            forResource: "keymaps-social-software-26-arxiv", withExtension: "pdf") {
+            NSWorkspace.shared.open(url)
+        } else if let url = URL(
+            string: "https://papers.aesthetic.computer/keymaps-social-software-26-arxiv.pdf") {
+            NSWorkspace.shared.open(url)
+        }
+    }
+
     @objc private func gamepadSchemeChanged(_ sender: NSPopUpButton) {
         guard let raw = sender.selectedItem?.representedObject as? String,
               let scheme = GamepadControlScheme(rawValue: raw) else { return }