The No Budget Instrument Collection (hereafter abbreviated to NBIC) is a collection of virtual (software) musical instruments. They are available in 2 formats; a collection of 64-bit LV2 plugins, and a collection of 64-bit linux executables. The plugins can be loaded into a host program such as Ardour, Muse, QTractor, etc. The executables are standalone versions that contain both the samples, and the engine that plays them.

Each plugin/executable contains (mostly) one instrument, or group of related instruments. For example, there's a Fender Precision electric bass instrument. Another instrument is the entire violin section of an orchestra.

Although each plugin is (usually) 1 instrument, it may contain numerous articulations (ie, sound variations) of that instrument. These articulations are referred to as Patches. For example, the Fender Precision electric bass has a patch of the bass being played with a pick. It has a second patch of the bass being played with a slapping technique. It has a third patch of the bass being played with a popping technique. Etc. So too, the orchestral violins instrument has a patch of the full ensemble playing legato. It has a second patch of the full ensemble playing pizzicato. It has tremulo and spiccato patches. It also has a patch of only the first violins playing legato, and another patch of only the second violins playing legato.

An instrument can have upto 127 patches. But since these are comprised of digitally sampled sounds, typically an instrument will have 16 or less patches.

Any 16 of an instrument's patches can be playing simultaneously, including duplicates of the same patch. For example, with the Fender Precision electric bass, you can simultaneously have 2 bassists playing with a pick, 2 bassists playing slapped, and a fifth bassist playing popped, all at the same time.

Each patch has its own individual settings for pitch (up or down 2 semitones), volume and expression, attack rate (fade in), release rate (fade out), pan, legato, etc. And these settings can all be changed while the patch is playing. For example, one bassist can be bending a string, while another bassist is simultaneously fading out, and a third is panning around the stereo plane. Settings are changed entirely with midi messages. For example, you can switch between patches using not only midi program change messages, or assigning different midi channels to patches, but also via "key switching" (the lowest notes on your controller can be set to switch among patches). This flexibility allows NBIC to be fully controlled by any midi controller both in the studio, or on a live stage.

Each instrument has its own stereo (mix) output of all its patches. So if you load both the Fender Bass and Orchestral Violins into a host, each plugin will have its own independent stereo output. In essense, each No Budget instrument is itself a 16 part, multitimbral sound module with stereo outs.

The collection is especially fine-tuned for computers with modest specs. For example, a 16-bit compressed format is used for waveforms loaded into RAM, and uncompressed on-the-fly to 24-bit while playing. The net result is that the NBIC uses less than half as much RAM as would be used if you played the same samples using other sample players, with no loss of fidelity. Also, extensive use of "shared code" means that, even if you load 20 instruments, with their 40 (stereo) outputs, there is only one instance of the sound engine (ie, sample player) in RAM. This allows the freedom to load up your system with instruments in the most efficient possible way.

Each instrument also includes an optional graphical "control" window, making it easy to modify settings while the instrument is playing.

NBIC offers other features, such as adding "human nuances" to waves while they playback. For example, cross-faded waves make notes get brighter as their volume increases and vice versa, even while notes are sustained. This makes realistic swells possible.

Each instrument also has a built-in reverb, making it possible to have its own reverb settings.


Installing the plugins
Using a plugin with QTractor
The Control Window
Setup your controller
Change a channel's patch
Volume and Expression
Legato
Attack and release rates
Pan
Reverb
Save your settings