Add your voice to the album
We need Cherokee voices. If you are a singer and would like to be a part of the recording project, it’s easy to do so from wherever you are. Trained voices are wonderful, but we also encourage amateur and casual singers to join us. You only need to have a computer and something with which to record your voice. Here’s how it works:
Option 1:
- Download the recording of any of the nine vocal movements to your computer and import it into any digital audio workstation: Garage Band, Audacity, Logic Pro, etc.
- Use headphones to listen to the recording as you sing
- Record your voice to another track using whatever microphone you can access—even your internal computer microphone can work
- If you record several takes of your voice, you can combine them into one file or keep them separate
- Name each of the audio files with the name of the movement. If you have more than one file for one of the songs, number them in the order in which they occur in the song.
- Send us a link to the recorded audio file(s) with a service like Dropbox, WeTransfer, or ShareFile
Option 2:
- Download the recording of any of the nine vocal movements to your computer or mobile device and open it in any audio playback app
- Be sure you listen to the recording with headphones while you sing
- Use another device, like your phone or tablet, to record your singing on a voice recording app
- You may want to record your singing in multiple small portions—that’s fine. Just be sure to label each audio file with the name of the song and the order in which it occurs
- Send us a link to the recorded audio file(s) with a service like Dropbox, WeTransfer, or ShareFile
However you record your voice, it’s important that you do so in a quiet location and stay as close to your microphone or recording device as reasonably possible. if you are recording with a phone or tablet, about a foot of distance would be appropriate. Otherwise, when we import your vocal recordings to add to the final tracks we can use some processing to help to filter out noise and improve the overall audio quality.
All of the demo recordings have live voices to sing along with. You do not need to sing all of the parts, or even an entire song all the way through. Any amount of participation is welcome. If you have a low voice, you can sing the lower parts. If you have a high voice, you can sing high parts.
You will also need access to the lyrics and (if you read music) the sheet music. Depending upon your comfort level, you might want to choose one of the two versions of the sheet music. If you do not read music, that’s ok too! You can learn the parts by listening to the recordings and simply sing along once you know the melodies.
The first and simpler version has the main melodies shown along with a piano accompaniment—these are the parts we recommend you add your voice to. The melodies written in a reduced note size are a reference to some of the other choral parts, but you can sing these, too, if you want. Feel free to sing along with as much as you are comfortable singing. Here’s that score:
The second version of the sheet music is the complete choral parts for all nine movements. You can sing any of the parts that feel comfortable for your vocal range. Here is that version:
Whichever version you choose, you may want to refer to the complete texts and their translations. Those are available here:
Finally, you’ll need access to the audio files so you can sing along. Those are here:
If you have any questions, just reach out via the form below, or email me directly at jmo (at) drjmo (dot) com.