Suggestions for Learning to Write for the Trap Set?

So, I am an orchestral composer, however I want to do work with my church. Unfortunately, my curch uses a trap set as part of its core rhythm (the other two parts are teh piano and bass guitar) along with orchestral instruments. When I write / arrange / orchestrate I do not traditionally do so with a trap set--percussion yes, but not a trap set. I would like to learn to incorporate the trap set into my writing, but I'm not sure if I need to learn how to notate for the trap (from what understand and see in most drum players they don't look at notation at all!) or simply find a plugin for Finale and my DAW that would auto-generate trap lines for audio purposes only (using just the standard hash-marks in the score for he drums). Any suggestions on this? Is it imporant to learn how to write for a drummr, or is tfe composer supposed to simply trust him to come up with his own stuff? If I do start to use some sort of plug or auto-generator, does anyone know a good one I can use that may not be professional grade, but will get the idea of trap set rhythms across?

have a look at Jamstix - and ask on their forum as well

For the most part, in modern music featuring a drum set, the drummer will improvise most of the part and only needs a chart to sight-read the arrangement and to know about any specific "hits" in the music. I would highly advise against writing a specific part for a drum set if you're not a drummer. This sort of thing is what drives me nuts about a lot of "bedroom bands" where one guy is playing everything and sequencing the drums, but doesn't know how to write for them. The feel is all wrong because they don't get how the drums fit into the music. If you're writing music that's more orchestral than rock/pop/jazz/whatever, you can write for a drum set the same way you write for an orchestral percussion section, as long as you keep in mind that the drummer only has two hands, and is playing the bass drum with his foot.

Hehehehe... sounds like I need to dod a bit of air-drumming!

I think that I understand the workings of a drum kit well enough, and can write competently for drums. I've never had to notate drums, except as a college exercise; I prefer to give drummers audio recordings of MIDI drums. I would not usually attempt to dictate the letter of the finer details (such as ghost beats and flams); I might demo them, if necessary, to give a drummer the general idea, and this has produced excellent final results.... but the demos never sound at all right. If I was required to notate drums, I'd mark one line (low on the stave) as 'kick', one (in the middle) as 'snare' and one or two (higher) as 'hat' or 'ride'. I'd write just one or two bars, depending on the requirements of the music, and a repeat symbol, followed by "(similar)". I'd indicate a tempo, possibly in beats per minute. That should be enough to show a drummer the essence of the beat required, without tying him to unnecessary details, requiring him to read a complex score, or requiring me to write one, while (hopefully) conveying the erroneous impression that I know what I'm doing. The best thing you could do, I think, is ask the drummer what he'd like in the way of notation....

I can't be bothered with air drumming. If I had the co-ordination for that, I'd be a drummer! Writing playable drum parts is easy. It probably sounds complicated, but it really isn't, once you get used to it. It's all about counting the arms: as Analogy observed, drummers typically have two. (Exceptions are Keith Moon, who had eight, and Rick Allen, who has one, so plays like he has nine.) It helps to know how a high hat works, so maybe Google it if you don't. 1) Write the kick and snare. These, together, form the percussive backbone of the entire song, so it's important to get it right, but unless a person has been living under a rock his whole life, he's heard a lot of pop music, and knows what those drums are supposed to do. 2) Write closed hats, on the off-beat (that's the 'and' in "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and"). Noobs make the mistake of adding closed hat hits to make more elaborate patterns; a basic hat pattern will become more interesting as hits are removed from it. 3) Write one open hat event at the end at the end of four bar phrases (or two bars, or eight bars, as the song demands), removing the closed hats at those points. (If you're trying to get machines to sound realistic, a pedaled hat in the place of the following closed hat might be handy - otherwise, they're usually not particularly helpful). 3) Write ride hits, if desired, on the beat. You might want to do this in the choruses, but probably not in every verse as well. If you must have lots of ride throughout, consider sections with ride bell instead. 4) Write a crash hit at the beginning of every verse (except, perhaps, the first) and chorus. Remove the coinciding ride. 5) Boring? Write a splash hit or two (perhaps on the third or fourth beat of a bar before a crash hit) later in the song, remembering to take out coinciding ride (or hat) hits accordingly. Listen to stuff produced by Stephen Street (E.G. Smiths, Cranberries) if you want to hear tasteful use of splash cymbals. 6) Still boring? Write Chinese cymbal hits, if you must, in the vicinity of splash hits, remembering to take out coinciding hat (or ride) hits. 7) Vary the snare pattern.... perhaps sneak in the occasional low tom hit, Ringo style.... and again must come the counting of the arms.... 8) Write snare and tom rolls, if you must, remembering to take out everything but the kick.... Don't expect the drummer to play exactly what you've written. Some of my favourite drummers use two cymbals. That's it. You're done. And if you're not done, hand the singer a tambourine.

Sometimes I write my own. For many things I use midi clips. I have EZ Drummer and some Groove Monkee and Odd Grooves midi clips. I look at it this way. I write everything myself, but drumming is so different. So, I hire a drummer. The drummer is the midi clips. I have a song and the drummer doers his thing. I say, that part is good, but I think we could try something different for this section. He tries different things until I like something. That is like auditioning different midi clips until I find the one I like for that section. Now, the drummer plays what I think would work well, but I suggest a small change to the snare or the inclusion of a tom hit. That would be similar to editing a midi clip that is almost, but not quite, what I want. Also, analyzing midi clips is a good way to learn.

Fex - there is already a full, proper convention for notating a full kit on one stave - that is why I suggested drums for dummies, which lays this out. as you suggested, each kit piece has its own line.