Hosea,
I feel for you man, b/c from what I can tell, you want to do something to help others. So I commend you for wanting to do this.
With that being said, our brothers and sisters are correct in that musical recordings of any kind are prohibited in the use of liturgy. On the one hand, I never cared much for backup recordings of any kind for performance, not just in a sacred setting, but also in a secular setting. I’ve been doing both secular and sacred music for a long time (not nearly as much as others, but I do have 18 years under my belt). There are certain venues in the secular wolrd that would axe me if I would use a backup recording for a vocalist. My employees, and even my audience would wonder why I wouldn’t use my instrumentalists and musicians to play the piece and would probably question my musical integrity and ability to lead and perform.
I find that when it comes to liturgy, simplicty is important. I know there are parishes that have amazing choirs, instrumentalists, and vocalists, etc., but I’ve found that even in some of the poorer parishes where I help with liturgical music (these parishes have no song sheets, hymnals, instruments, etc.), if and when I can, I will bring a keyboard or a guitar for accompaniment. However, alot of times, particularly in the Spanish-speaking parishes, I take out my missal, and use the Meinrad tones to chant out the parts for the mass without any type of accompaniment. What I find is that many times, less is truly more. And the people really respond.
I think alot of times, as liturgical musicians, we find out many things through trial and error, and because there is a general lack of knowledge as to what is appropriate musically for mass. I am very fortunate to belong to a Diocese where our Bishop is both knowledgeable about liturgy and is very pastoral. I work with music directors who are striving to remain true to the Church’s teachings on sacred music, and many who actually can decipher the documents so that I can understand it. We have priests who are committed to liturgical renewal and who are willing to communicate with us musical directors on how to approach the liturgy. In my parish, we are striving for the ideal, but it’s taking time, lots of energy, and lots of patience in teaching why music is so important for liturgy that it needs to be done correctly, and done well, according to the capacities of the parish, and striving for the ideal.
Many that post on these forums might already know of the Meinrad tones, but just in case, here is a link:
saintmeinrad.edu/monastery_liturgicalmusic.aspx
There are many resources on their website and it’s actually, surprisingly simple to follow. You can set the tones to any language. This would be a good resource to send to other poor parishes around the world.