THE DRUM SET & ROCK MUSIC                                                                                                                                The Problem of the Trap Set The drum set, or trap set, used in rock and jazz music is gaining wide acceptance in churches, spanning many denominations, as an instrument that’s suitable for worshipping God. In truth, I imagine rock music and the drums are drawing crowds to churches that might not otherwise come. However, could there be a danger in this unusual attraction? We must take time to explore this instrument further to determine whether it is acceptable to God—a path that will truly lead many to Jesus. Sincere people often confuse other percussion instruments and drums with what is called the trap set, what you find in rock and jazz bands, so much so that the two are inseparable for most people. This error often leads to the false conclusion that since the Bible mentions some percussive instruments and drums, then playing the trap set is acceptable for worship. For example, the Bible mentions the use of timbrels, tabrets, loud cymbals, and high-sounding cymbals for praising the Lord (Psalm 150). (We’ll address the drums in the Bible specifically a bit later.) Of course, the trap set contains all of these elements, but before we go one, it’s important clarify our terms. Two Different Instruments The trap set and other percussive instrument come from two different families. “Each drum, or each drum family, requires specialized training, just the way violin or viola, cello or bass, piccolo or B-flat flute do. Don’t chump yourself or the instrument, saying, ‘I play one, I can play them all.’ ” 2 In fact, the difference between drums and percussion and drummers and percussionists is something that’s plainly understood by the two groups that play them. “As long as we are at it, let us put a little difference between the ‘percussionist’ and the ‘drummer.’ These two have been sharing the same room for a very long time. They may be cousins, but still keep in mind, they are from two different families.” 3 From experts in the field, experts who love playing the drums, we see a distinction between drummers and percussionists. Furthermore, “There is a difference between drummers and percussionists. A drummer usually plays a drum or drums, whereas a percussionist not only plays drums but is also skilled in theplaying of a wide range of percussive instruments. Even in a western style orchestra we
have our drummers, those who primarily play the timpani, snare and bass drum, and
then we have percussionists who handle the parts calling for bells, xylophone,
woodblock, tubular bells, glockenspiel, cymbals and triangle. And last but not least, we
have the trap set … used to refer to a collection of drums and percussion accessories
including cymbals”
4
We see here that the trap set is classed with the drums. However, we must make a
distinction between the drums that a percussionist plays (timpani, snare, and bass drum) and
the trap set.
A basic trap set in a rock or jazz band consists of a bass drum played with the right foot,
usually 20 to 24 inches in diameter; a hi-hat (two cymbals 13 to 15 inches in diameter) played
with the left foot and right hand; and a snare drum positioned between your legs. Attached to
the bass drum is a 13-inch “tom tom” and the 16-inch floor tom is placed to the right of the
snare drum. The ride cymbal (anywhere from 20 to 22 inches) is played by the right hand when
not playing the hi-hat. Drummers often add tom toms and cymbals to their preference, but
that’s the basic trap set. To play this drum set, one must be seated.
This trap set is also known as “the traps, short for contraption [which] is a generic term
used to refer to a collection of drums and percussion accessories including cymbals.”
5 There
are two unique elements to a trap set: One is the hi-hat, and the other is that the arrangement,
which covers the spectrum of tuned drums and cymbals, “can be played by only one person.”
6
The percussive instruments in an orchestra actually contain all the elements of the trap set
and more, but they are not played in the same way. In fact, there is a major difference in the
way the drums are played in an orchestra and the drum set in a rock band.
Worlds Apart
The drums that are found in the orchestra (bass drum, snare drum, and timpani) are not
played the same way as the trap set. In fact, the difference is undeniable. A good percussionist
in an orchestra does not necessarily make a good drummer in a rock band and vice versa.
Indeed, the trap set is a unique instrument that’s specifically designed to play rock and jazz.
In this way, a rock or jazz drummer would never buy a trap set to play it like a percussionist
in an orchestra—that is simply not what it is designed to do. Its sole purpose is for rock and its
hybrids (soft, punk, heavy metal, acid, alternative, etc.) and jazz and its hybrids (Dixieland,
ragtime, big band, bebop, etc.). It’s also incorporated in blues, rhythm and blues, soul, country,
Latin, and fusion.
I have never heard a recording of a modern trap set being used to play anything other than
a hybrid of rock or jazz. Even when the trap set is used to accompany an orchestra, the music
is no longer associated with the baroque, classical, or romantic genres of music; instead, it’s
transformed into a rock or jazz hybrid. The rhythms of rock music are so powerful that the
traditional instruments found in the orchestra and the way they are played are automatically
grafted into the rock rhythms.
A good example of this is found in the music of popular New Age artist Yanni, especially his
album featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (Live at the Acropolis). This recording
demonstrates how rock music acts like a melting pot, absorbing the melodies and rhythms ofGreek music and combining it with an orchestra. Greeks easily recognize the melodies and
rhythms as characteristic to their ethnic music; however, the way these same melodies are
played has been transformed by the rock rhythms via the trap set.
The rock rhythms are like a black hole that everything else gets “trapped” into. Those
trained in western classical music recognize its almost exclusive instruments, but they also hear
those instruments being played differently. The same holds true for big band music. The
instruments are European, but it’s transformed into jazz.
Again, it only happens through trap set, which is specifically designed to play rock and jazz.
It is possible for a percussionist to play rock and jazz rhythms on percussion instruments
designed for classical orchestra music. However, the trap set cannot be used to play classical
orchestra music! Whenever the trap set is played the way it was designed to be played in
another music form, that form automatically changes to a rock or jazz hybrid.
Indeed, the trap set is absolutely unique from other instruments in many different ways.
Here is a summary of what we’ve already covered.
“I am sure we are all familiar with the trap set through its use in jazz and rock music,
even though the traps are the new kids on the block. The trap drums are not only
unique in their construction but also in how they are played. Each trap drummer is
required to be virtually a one-man band of percussive sounds, and this demands of him
being able to split his attention evenly between both feet and both hands as well as the
music of which he is a part. This alone is a skill in itself not found among most
percussionists and usually takes years of training to develop.”
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An Unholy Alliance
The trap set was invented for the sole purpose of powering the music known as jazz, blues,
rhythm and blues, and all the varieties of rock-n-roll. The fact that drums are mentioned in the
Bible leads many to believe that playing the traps is acceptable. Though we’ve already
addressed this by seeing that the trap set is not only constructed differently but also played
differently than the percussive instruments named in the Bible, there is another argument
against it.
The argument that the Bible approves of the trap set by mere mention of its separate
articles also fails in the fact that the music that the traps were designed to accompany was not
invented until very recently.
The trap set (and the music that it powers) was invented in the early 1900s, thousands of
years after the Old Testament was written. This means that the trap set is a unique instrument,
as yet unknown by the Bible’s writers. It should never be confused with other drums (such as a
snare, bass, tom toms, and other percussion instruments that one would normally find in an
orchestra.)
In addition, it’s also interesting and necessary to note that the meanings of rock-n-roll and
jazz themselves should be very unattractive to Christians. The phrase rock-n-roll was coined by
a disc jockey to describe the act of sexual intercourse in the back seat of a car. Also,
“Jazz is supposed to be dance music, to be functional, invocational. It was designed by
God to make you dance, to “forget your troubles … get happy … [and] get ready for theJudgment Day” … Besides what does the word “jazz” mean? To say to someone you’re
gonna “jazz’em” means you want to sex them up, you want to jump their bones and do
the Wild Thing. What am I saying? The music is made from primal energy. Jazz is more
than improvisation: it is reproduction, resurrection of your down trodden soul.”
8
Does this sound like music we should simply put Christian words to and then sell to our
young people? As I said earlier, when I was younger, I hardly cared for the lyrics to music, and
I wouldn’t be fooled by children today repeating lyrics they have simply heard over and over
again. It is the music that’s driving their interest, not the words.
Therefore, if rock and jazz are unsuitable forms of music for worship, then the trap set is
automatically implicated because it was designed solely to be the fundamental driving force of
that music!
While at Seminary, I took a course called “Worship and Music.” There was another
drummer in the class along with me. One day in class, the professor asked me whether I could
use the trap set in the worship of God.
I had to answer “No. It’s only designed to play rock and jazz rhythms, which are associated
with sex, drugs, the occult, and rebellion.” She then asked the other drummer the same
question, but he answered yes, which surprised me.
However, she then asked him if he played the trap set differently when he became a
Christian—if his form had changed. He could only answer no. But he persisted in saying that the
difference for him was that he was now thinking of the Lord now while he was playing.
His message was again the adage that as long as you are praising God from the heart, the
form doesn’t matter. However, can acts and instruments associated with rebellion, sexual
perversity, and the occult be considered Christian by making a melody in your heart to the Lord
or by saying that we’re thinking of the Lord as we’re doing those acts?
Absolutely not, just as it holds true that practicing homosexuals try to justify their sin. God
condemns homosexuality, but homosexual couples legitimize their relationships by saying that
as long as they love, God’s okay with it because He is love. But most Christians know this is
very weak reasoning. God set the standard of love as between a man and woman, and He also
set the standard in His worship—including the Sabbath.
The point is that you cannot “Christianize” the trap set any more than you can make Sunday
the new Sabbath day.
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2. Sule Greg Wilson, The Drummer’s Path: Moving the Spirit with Ritual and Traditional Drumming (Rochester, Vermont:
Destiny Books, 1992), p.74.
3. Dru Kristel, Breath was the First Drummer: A Treatise on Drums Drumming and Drummers (Santa Fe, NM: QX
Publications/A.D.A.M. Inc., 1995), p.23.
4. Ibid, 29-30.
5. Ibid, 30.
6. Ibid, 30.
7. Ibid, 30-31 (emphasis supplied).
8. Sule Greg Wilson, 29.