Choir Leader Setup Guide
Everything you need to get your choir set up and your singers practising.
Getting Started
Before your members can use the app, you need to do four things:
This is where you'll put all your practice tracks. You can name it anything — e.g. My Choir or Amazing Voices.
This gives us access to your audio files so the app can serve them to your members.
- Navigate to the choir folder in Dropbox
- Click Share Folder
- Click Add people
- Enter support@chorustr.com and click Share
Chorustr reads your files but never modifies them. Follow these steps to create a view-only link:
- Navigate to the choir folder in Dropbox
- Click the Share Folder button
- Click Copy Link
- By default Dropbox creates an edit link — click Manage
- Select Link for viewing
- Click Copy Link
Send the choir name and your view-only Dropbox link to support@chorustr.com. We'll create your choir entry and reply with a choir code — a short code your members type into the app to join.
This is a one-time step. Once your choir is set up, you manage everything by adding files to the Dropbox folder — no further contact with us is needed.
Folder Structure
The root of your Dropbox shared folder is your choir folder. Create one subfolder per song — that's it. There's no deeper nesting.
- The folder name becomes the song title shown in the app, exactly as you type it.
- You can add, rename, or delete song folders at any time.
We recommend that song folders are named in Title Case so that they render nicely in the app. Avoid adding superfluous text to folder names.
Track Types: Premixed vs Stems
Chorustr supports two ways of providing audio. Choose the one that matches how your tracks were produced.
Option A — Premixed Tracks
Each audio file is a complete full-mix recording with one voice part louder than the rest. Put the MP3 files directly inside the song folder.
full.mp3 is required for premixed songs. Without it the song will show as "Coming Soon" even if all the other parts are present. full.mp3 is what plays when a member chooses "All Parts" in the mixer.
All files same length. It is important that audio files have the same length (time) so that playback is properly synchoronized when switching between parts.
Option B — Stems Tracks
Each audio file is a single isolated part with no other voices audible. Put all the MP3 files inside a subfolder named stems. The app mixes them live, and members can adjust the volume of each track independently.
The presence of a stems/ subfolder is all that's needed — the app detects it automatically and switches to stems mode. No full.mp3 is required.
Stems take priority. If a stems/ subfolder exists, any MP3 files placed directly in the song folder are ignored. Chorustr always uses stems when they are present.
All files same length. It is important that audio files have the same length (time) so that playback is properly synchoronized when playing mutliple tracks simultaneously.
Supported Filename Keywords
The app identifies each track by looking for a keyword anywhere in the filename. Everything else — song title, dashes, spaces, numbering — is ignored. Filenames are case-insensitive, so Soprano.mp3, SOPRANO.mp3, and soprano.mp3 all work.
| Keyword in filename | Part | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| soprano | Soprano (undivided) | Both |
| soprano1 or soprano 1 | Soprano 1 | Both |
| soprano2 or soprano 2 | Soprano 2 | Both |
| alto | Alto (undivided) | Both |
| alto1 or alto 1 | Alto 1 | Both |
| alto2 or alto 2 | Alto 2 | Both |
| tenor | Tenor (undivided) | Both |
| tenor1 or tenor 1 | Tenor 1 | Both |
| tenor2 or tenor 2 | Tenor 2 | Both |
| bass | Bass (undivided) | Both |
| bass1 or bass 1 | Bass 1 | Both |
| bass2 or bass 2 | Bass 2 | Both |
| baritone | Baritone | Both |
| solo | Solo | Both |
| solo1 or solo 1 | Solo 1 | Both |
| solo2 or solo 2 | Solo 2 | Both |
| women | Women (combined) | Both |
| men | Men (combined) | Both |
| full | Full mix / All Parts | Premixed only |
| backing | Backing track (no lead vocals) | Stems only |
| click | Click / metronome track | Stems only |
Examples of valid filenames: Soprano.mp3, SOPRANO 1.MP3, Alto 1 - Baba Yetu.m4a, Amazing Grace - Bass.mp3.
Any file whose name doesn't contain a recognised keyword is silently ignored.
One file per part. Each part must have exactly one audio file — don't include both alto.mp3 and alto (chorus only).mp3 in the same folder. If the same part name appears more than once, the song will show as Coming Soon until the duplicate is removed.
Supported File Formats
Audio
The following audio formats are supported: .mp3, .m4a, .aac, .opus, .ogg, .wav. Files in any other format will be ignored.
For all formats, use 44.1 kHz sample rate and stereo channels. The table below shows recommended and minimum bitrates, along with typical file sizes for a 3-minute track and a full song with 4 voice parts plus a backing track (5 tracks total). Higher bitrates mean better quality but larger files — choir members on slow connections will wait longer to download them, so avoid going higher than necessary.
| Format | Recommended | Minimum | 3-min track | 5-track song |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MP3 | 192 kbps | 128 kbps | 4.3 MB | ~22 MB |
| M4A / AAC | 128 kbps | 96 kbps | 2.9 MB | ~14 MB |
| Opus | 96 kbps | 64 kbps | 2.2 MB | ~11 MB |
| OGG Vorbis | 128 kbps | 96 kbps | 2.9 MB | ~14 MB |
| WAV | n/a (lossless) | n/a (lossless) | ~30 MB | ~150 MB |
WAV is a last resort. The concern is not storage but download time — at ~150 MB for a 5-track song, a member on a slow mobile connection could wait several minutes before they can listen. Use WAV only if you have no other encoding option available.
Documents — PDF only
Lyrics, scores, and cheat sheets must all be in PDF format. Other document formats are not supported. See the Documents section for naming rules.
Song icons
Icon files must have a name starting with icon (case-insensitive) and be in PNG, JPG, or GIF format — e.g. icon.png, icon.jpg, Icon - Amazing Grace.jpeg. A square image works best — the app crops to a square if needed.
Minimum Files Required
- Premixed: at least one voice part audio file plus
fullaudio file. Withoutfullthe song shows as Coming Soon. - Stems: at least one audio file inside the
stems/subfolder.
A song with only one part is perfectly playable — members just won't have other parts to choose from.
Documents
You can attach PDF documents to any song. The app shows each document as a tab on the now playing screen. Three document types are supported:
| Keyword in filename | Tab shown in app | Example filenames |
|---|---|---|
| lyrics | Lyrics | lyrics.pdf, Amazing Grace - Lyrics.pdf |
| score | Score | score.pdf, Full Score.pdf |
| cheat sheet | Cheat Sheet | cheat sheet.pdf, Baba Yetu - Cheat Sheet.pdf |
The keyword can appear anywhere in the filename — before or after the song title. All document files must be in PDF format. You can include any combination of the three.
Song Icons
Add an image file whose name starts with icon to the song folder — e.g. icon.png or icon.jpg. PNG, JPG, and GIF formats are all supported. It will be shown as artwork in the song list and the player. If no icon is present, a default placeholder is used.
Coming Soon Songs
If you want to add a song to the list before the tracks are ready, create the song subfolder but leave it empty. The app will show the song with a Coming Soon badge so members can see it's on the way.
Once you add audio files to the folder, members will be able to play the song on their next sync.
Premixed reminder: even if all voice part audio files are present, the song shows as Coming Soon until the full mix is added.
Duplicate part files: if a song folder contains two files for the same part — e.g. alto.mp3 and alto (chorus only).mp3 — the song will show as Coming Soon. Remove the duplicate so each part has exactly one file.
Updating Songs
Replace or add files in the Dropbox folder at any time. Chorustr compares file hashes and only re-downloads what has changed, so updates arrive quickly. Members get the update automatically the next time they open the app — no action needed on their part.
- Replacing an audio file → members hear the new version on next sync
- Adding new parts → new parts appear in the mixer on next sync
- Removing a part → it disappears from the mixer on next sync
Deleting Songs
Delete the song subfolder from Dropbox. On the next sync the app removes it from the playlist and deletes the locally cached files from each member's device.
Questions?
If you get stuck or something isn't working as expected, email us at support@chorustr.com and we'll help you get sorted.