Free recording / documentation for Native American drum groups.

I am a sound engineer and producer in north eastern Oklahoma. I am starting a project in documenting different Native American songs and languages. Currently I am looking for Native American drum groups to record / document, for free. Right now this is only offered to the Oklahoma area due to travel expenditures.

My portfolio can be viewed here ccauthen.com, as a warning most of my clients have been extreme music "metal, hiphop, etc." I feel it is time for me to switch gears and focus on this specific genre that has deep personal meaning for me. It is a great opportunity to get your group or songs recorded for your safe keeping for free. Let me know if you are interested or have questions.

Questions and Answers

Here are some common questions about this offer that I thought should be presented.

• Date to be done? No pressing date. However I would like to do it as soon as possible. My experience has been that these things need to be captured as quickly as possible because you never know what tomorrow holds. Allot of wisdom, cultural heritage and memories have been lost to procrastination.

• Where is it located? I have a project studio in Bartlesville Ok, Your more that welcome to record here; however for this project I feel location recordings more appropriate. Capturing the songs in the environment that they are normally sang rather than a sterile studio environment would add to its authenticity. I have a mobile rig designed for this purpose.

• What is your personal reason for this? There are several reasons; I had a very close friend who was Hopi and Tewa who passed away recently. When my natural father passed, he was a second father to me. I had planed to record his stories however did not get the chance before cancer took him. Around the time of his death I had a dream of a powwow. In this dream I was able to see the sounds as they were coming from the singers and the drum. The patterns that they made when intersected were complex geometric patterns that have similar patterns to patterns that arise in Native American art. From this dream, I now have an urgency placed in me that I cannot explain that I need to fulfill this project. To capture these waveforms and reproduce them properly will take specialized equipment that I have not acquired yet. These first recordings are field work for technical research on special recording techniques and to network with different Native American communities for future recording when the specialized equipment has been acquired. Another reason is my in-laws are Cherokee and Osage but have lost / not interested in their tradition. Being a new father I want to make sure my children will be proud and interested in their native heritage regardless of tribe or clan.

• Is there a specific type of song you would like to here? These recordings are yours and your families. I want to capture songs that you and your family want to make sure will not be forgotten and can be passed down.