Well I guess my question is: are we going for music to provide realism, or to set the mood?
In MY opinion, realism isnt too important when it comes to music. Maybe a drumset is taking it a bit far,but fitting to the mood of the game is more importans, in my opinion, than going for realism.
Take Guild Wars for example. You can have seige tutrles (Huge turtles with cannons on their back) on your team. Now This is COMPLETELY rediculus, but it really helps to make the game fun
Or take Battlefield 2142.
They have these "drop pods" that are a substitute for parachutes. Pretty unrealistic, but It really helps set the mood.
People dont want really soft, and hard to connect the sound to the game-type-music. Even if it is realistic. I think that truthfully, people wont play the game for the music. But the music helps set the mood, the feeling of the game, that will draw them back to play again.
Of course, there is always the option of having a jukebox that lets you decide what music to play, but thats for another place, and another time.