I have been struggling to find a clear explanation of this, and also struggled with it for a while. It’s not intuitive, but I now have a better grasp.
Global Mute
Pressing FUNC + TRACK# will globally mute that track.
A Global Mute means that if you switch from pattern A1 to A2, the mute will carry over. So if track one is muted, it will stay muted when the pattern changes.
- An unmuted track will be white. It will be red when you press FUNC.
- If the track is muted, it will be red, or unlit when you press FUNC.
Pattern Mute
Pressing PTN + TRACK# will pattern mute your track. That means it will only be muted while that pattern is playing. If you go from pattern A1 to A2, the pattern mute will not carry over.
I am also pretty certain that the Digitone will store pattern mutes, so you can switch to that pattern and, if the pattern mutes have been stored, will have certain tracks not play automatically without having to use global mute.
- If a track is Pattern muted, track button is purple.
Combo Mute (my own terminology ha)
- If something is both pattern and globally muted, the track button will be blue. It will be unlit when you press FUNC.
Mute Mode i find the light colors in mute mode incredibly confusing.
press FUNC + BANK to enter mute mode.
in mute mode, you can mute and unmute tracks without pressing func. you just press TRACK#.
When a track is unmuted, the track button will be solid red when stopped, and will be red and flash white to indicate a trig while playing.
When a track is globally muted (which is achieved simply by pressing the TRACK# in mute mode) the track button will be unlit when stopped, and will flash red to indicate a trig.
Pattern muting will still work in Mute Mode. Things get really confusing when you are working with pattern AND global mutes in mute mode. The light indications aren’t great, and because they are flashing it gets confusing.
Let me try to break down…
If something is pattern muted in mute mode, you will only know by globally unmuting it and then it will flash purple instead of white when it hits a trig. You will not be able to hear it. As before, press PTN + TRACK# to turn the pattern mute off.
If something is pattern muted AND globally muted in Mute Mode, corresponding track button will be unlit and flash purple.
But if you’re confused in mute mode, I suggest you exit by pressing FUNC+PTN. In the regular mode, I find it easier to see what is globally, pattern, or combo muted.