I am working on a blues/soul project. I am starting the tracks with BB/RB, doing as much as I can, then taking them to a friend's studio. There are a few reasons. His software is a little better and he knows it better. I can do vocals there much easier. His production ideas are good. Finally, he understands mastering.

A couple of the songs have stops and pushes. RD's don't always handle those well. Yes, I know how to enter them, but some RD's just won't comply. In addition, I need some more fills. So it seems my choices are to use a real drummer for those songs or buy a drum package to play the midi parts. The price of two sessions with a drummer (if I get a bargain) and a software package will be about the same. And recording with a drummer is no easy thing.

So here's my question. Do you have any plugins you recommend. EZ Drummer looks as if it has some good features. There are also some free software packages; anyone have a favorite one of those? Just for clarification, I don't need a hundred variations of each drum. I need a couple of bass drums, a few good snares, some toms, a decent crash and ride, open and close HH.

Any ideas are appreciated.

2b

i5-3210 laptop. Win 10 Home. 2.5ghz, 64 bit. 6gb RAM. Focusrite Scarlet 2i2.