Using the Calibr8or firmware for Ornament & Crime to make your Eurorack oscillators track correctly

(NOTE: The video above was recorded using Phazerville v1.5.1; some of the UI functions changed for the better in v1.6.6. Follow the link at the bottom of this section for detailed use instructions, including the changes.)
One of the most maddening things about using a modular synth is how few oscillators track accurately - or at least each other - fresh out of the box. Earlier this year, I decided to pay someone to write some custom firmware for the Ornament & Crime module (o_C) to help me tame the wide variety of sound sources I have.
That firmware is called Calibr8or, written by DJ Phazer, and is demonstrated in the video above. We’ve made it free for everyone with an o_C; it is an app he includes with the Phazerville Suite.
Main download page: github.com/djphazer/O_C-Benis...
Description of the different versions: github.com/djphazer/O_C-Benis...
Description: github.com/djphazer/O_C-Benis...
Instructions on how to load new firmware into the o_C module: ornament-and-cri.me/firmware/
For detailed text instructions, go to: learningmodular.com/calibr8or/

[@BeniRoseMusic]

So glad I was able to connect you with Nick to make this app happen. He has been killing it with Phazerville!

[@ebe404]

So incredibly useful and helpful. Thanks for the excellent walkthrough and to you and DJ Phazer for the app.

[@mikedurden]

Pitch tracking is my #1 PET PEEVE of eurorack. I love eurorack so much but it's such a bummer when one has tracking issues. Thanks so much for working on this. I'm going to buy an Ornament & Crime (maybe multiple) just for this feature.

[@scottm-digital_disillusion7355]

This is amazing! Such a good use of O&C.

[@fallprecauxionsmusic]

this is brilliant!! thanks bunches for this, mr. chris!!

[@mylarmelodies]

This is very cool, I've been struggling with discordant VCOs in my live system so will try this out. Thanks for generously taking the hit in commissioning it Chris!!

[@kelyncrandall7452]

I was thinking of making my own module to do this exactly... and now I don't have to! Thanks you!

[@uhzelectronics]

Thank you!! Great video!!

[@nectariosm]

God send app, thank you! I installed Phazerville 1.66 (+main) on two of my O&Cs. The 3rd one I installed Phazerville 1.66 (+stock2) for good ol' Quantermain and Quadraturia.

[@chitlun]

Absolutely brilliant! Set my case up with this earlier and it sounds fantastic. Cheers to everyone involved with this, it’s incredible. I may have to buy another o_C though because I can’t see me using my current one for anything else!

[@LearningModular]

I know what you mean - I've dedicated several o_Cs to just Calibr8or! I'm really happy to hear you're getting good use out of it as well.

[@chitlun]

@@LearningModular I’m a relative newbie to modular (2 years in) and was wondering if you could advise how I can monitor the voltage coming out of my Moog Matriarch, which is my main keyboard input to the case. You mention in the video about a lot of VCOs becoming unstable below 0v so I’d like to overcome that issue. Is there something in the o_C that will measure voltage?

[@LearningModular]

@@chitlun the app References in the original o_C firmware can output voltages, but I do not think it can read voltage levels in - I'll ask on the o_C forum on Facebook to see if there one that does. I use a digital multimeter, or a Mordax DATA module.

[@LearningModular]

@@chitlun I was told that the alternate firmware Hemispheres has a Scope app that can be used to measure voltages.

[@chitlun]

@@LearningModular Nice one. Thanks for looking, appreciate it!

[@usaroman]

20 years ago I had four Modcan oscillators and a kenton pro cv controller. The tracking was quite good but off on the upper octaves. Im truly surprised that this issue is still so common in this day and age. I thought AJH V Scales module took care of this, at least on their YT channel it works.

[@LearningModular]

The V-Scale modules are very useful; I owned several and also made videos about how to use them. Their major shortcoming for me was just one input for all five outputs, where in my case I want to be able to freely patch any of my sequencer channels to any combination of sound source that are patched to it. Also, they don't over the pitch offset, transposition, quantization, and sample & hold options that Calibr8or does.

[@NickHchaos]

It’s odd, because I feel that all the oscillators I’ve ended up liking the best, sound and perform great, and mostly have kept over the years also seem to track quite well-AJH, L-1, Intellijel Rubicon, ACL.

[@sonicaddiction]

The original firmware has auto calibration somewhere in the setup page. It’s marvelous to use with all the various sequencers and quantizers included. One of my absolute favourite modules, especially with Buchla. Not really seeing the benefit with this firmware over the original auto calibration though.

[@LearningModular]

The auto-calibration app in indeed o_C is very cool. But it does not seen to have the performance oriented features of transposition, selective detuning after calibration, scale quantization, sample & hold, multiple presets, etc. (Although it might be a good thing to merge the two together, so you had its auto-cal across multiple notes combined with those extra features.)

[@ThierryEtchepipidessus]

Hey there, On the download page of github, not sure witch version to choose, what does main, stock1, stock 2 and VOR mean?

[@LearningModular]

I had the same confusion as you, so I asked Nick (DJ Phazer). This is his reply: "You can direct users to one of the four "+main" build variations, which all include Calibr8or. "+VOR" is for Plum Audio units, and "_flipped" is for upside-down module orientation. (I hope to make flipped mode a runtime option eventually)" I don't know the differences between Stock 1, Stock 2, etc., but I will ask him and add it to the article linked to the the information underneath the video.

[@Klankspel]

Fantastic!! Would love to test it with my 4ms Ensemble Oscillator, as this module tends to detune over the keyboard.... or maybe it's the Arturia KS37 causing it, don't know.

[@sillyworm]

Have you figured this out? I just included this 4MS module into my workflow.

[@Klankspel]

​@@sillyworm I had it installed but went back to earlier O_C firmware editions, due to several bugs I encountered with Phazerville in my ornament & crime module. I prefer the original FW, Hemisphere and Benisphere editions. As for the 4ms Enosc - I found that my 'tuning' depended very much on the Root and Spread position of the knobs, to behave fine or not. Also I went through the Enosc calibration process again (as written in the 4MS manual ) and had no issues after that. I could very well play the Enosc from ky Keystep 37. Guess it's a matter of spending more time with the module :)

[@KNHSynths]

Cool firmware. But the CalTrans is far better. The procedure is full automatic, the tracking is done on all the VCO range and not only for linear error (tune+% here = linear error only), the price is low (compare to a dedicated O&C for same function), it is smaller, it also tracks 4 VCOs and also have presets and global settings (octave...). The O&C is so useful with Hemisphere or BeniSphere firmware that it seems a shame to lock it just for this function a ClaTrans can achieve perfectly and more accurately. But thanks for the demo, this firmware can certainly becomes more appealing if it becomes just an App in Hemisphere for example, and if the procedure is automatic and the tracking correction manages non linear errors.

[@LearningModular]

I agree that CalTrans is better when it works - I had several of them for awhile. It's automated; its inputs normal downward which can save some patching. And it's definitely the better solution for when the tracking errors in a sound source are not linear. But...CalTrans does not work for percussive or plucked sound sources; it does not work well when the control CV is near or below 0v; it does not have the sample & hold function; its scales are harder to access as well. And although I've had times when CalTrans has worked miracles, I've also had occasions where it made the tracking accuracy worse. So that's why I commissioned this firmware. Plus a µo_C takes up less space and costs less than the combination of AJH V-Scale plus Klavis CalTrans I was using previously.

[@KNHSynths]

​@@LearningModular CalTrans is not perfect of course, I don't use it for the musical scales, I use half of a O&C in hemisphere mode for that purpose (or other dedicated quantizers I'm posessing). The Firmware should be just an app among others, locking the O&C just for a function is not the best way to use this versatile machine, IMO. But in the modular world there are lot of solutions for the same goal and each of us has his/her own preferences. So if you find the firmware being a good solution for your usage, that's cool ! Making music is the real interest, not the gears themselves. 🙂

[@LearningModular]

@@KNHSynths I don't look at it as "I'm using my o_C to run Calibr8or"; I look at it as "I wish I had a better tracking compensation module, something that combined some of my favorite features of CalTrans and the V-Scale, plus a S&H function" - and it just so happened that the already-designed o_C hardware running custom firmware was the best/most immediate solution I could come up with. I bought half a dozen o_Cs to replace the V-Scales and CalTranses I was already using.

[@KNHSynths]

@@LearningModular it's true that there is no real perfect solution for this very important problem. Having a good tracking and quantization is crucial when using many VCOs or when recording in multiple passes. Perhaps thing will evolve. But it seems buyers in the eurorack world are more interested in techno-ish noises than in quantized melodies and harmonies, so the makers... But I'm sure the day you'll find something more effective, you'll show it on your channel !

[@frijitz001]

I have a couple of analog designs that track within .3% over 15 oct or so (up to 20kHz) with drift under 20 ppm/K. Nobody would ever manufacture them. They have said it is overkill and not worth bothering with.