Could you elaborate on "stuffed Mass"? I'm assuming you mean Masses that include both hymns and chant? In my experience there is plenty of time for both during communion and the chants are quite effective when they follow a hymn....the church falls reverently silent. So I don't think it's detracting from the rhythm....just some thoughts :)

Hi Amanda, welcome.
I believe that many of us first encountered Mahrt's term, "The stuffed Mass," at the New Orleans Chant Intensive 2011. I more or less prompted the discussion with a question dealing with how to satisfy a situation like you've described via the notion of accompanying a processional. Here's an article I wrote for the Chant Cafe detailing his answer.

http://www.chantcafe.com/2011/02/two-new-terms-in-my-liturgical-lexicon.html

There's been a great amount of discussion about linking Proper processionals with hymns from all sorts of perspectives, licitness, who sings what, which comes first etc. I'm not going to rehash those. But...at our final holyday Mass last evening I cantored alone. Using SEP and OCP, here's the ordo: By happenstance, the celebrant and acolytes chose to proceed to the narthex via the interior because of the heat out here as I chanted the Introit; they then processed formally to HAIL HOLY QUEEN; at the Offertory, I chanted the SEP Offertorio, followed by the chanted (Latin/English) AVE MARIA in the hymnal; after fraction and upon reception of celebrant, I chanted SEP Communio as then the EHMC/Acolytes received, then HOLY IS HIS NAME (Talbot's "Magnifcat" paraphrase) and then SALVE REGINA (Latin/English).
After the Mass, about 200+ folks in attendance, a number of people whom I've known for twenty years made a point of how the chant uplifts, yes they said "uplifts", their spirit at Mass. Some of the remarks were from people whom I never would have expected such a reaction. As far as FACP on the two Marian chants, only a few brave souls joined in, mostly on the SALVE. But to my mind it proves that FACP is still "on" via active listening and prayer because of those after Mass reactions.

At our parish we generally use both hymns and the propers on various levels. When incense is used, we sing the introit (either SEP or GR, depending on the Mass). It doesn't feel "stuffed", but that's because the size of the church building and the number of altar boys and clergy make it so that it a hymn and the antiphon covers the liturgical action well. A smaller church or a smaller procession would be quite different. I'm here at the William Byrd Festival with the goodly professor....perhaps I shall pick his brain on the matter!

I found that singing the Communion Proper during communion made it feel more reflective and prayerful, and then a hymn afterward felt like a very graceful transition to the closing prayer. Almost as if we're singing joy to our God, "thank you for this gift of Eucharist!"

Certainly if your congregation pushes back strongly against that, be sensitive. But not TOO sensitive - there will always be one complainer out there no matter what you do.

If attempting to follow tradition on from the EF mass, I think the best formula would look something like this:

Hymn for procession. The procession stops at the foot of the altar and waits for the end of the Hymn verse. The Introit chant begins while the procession enters the sanctuary and incenses the altar. The introit will probably be only the antiphon, psalm verse, glory be and antiphon.

At the offertory, chant the antiphon, a psalm verse and the antiphon again, followed by a motet or an offertory hymn. (No prizes for guessing that I favour the motet option).

At Communion, use the full communion chant only, and if communion is taking a long time, then perhaps go into a communion hymn, or get the choir to sing a communion motet or similar (an adoration hymn is usually quite good such as O Salutaris Hostia). A really good motet for this is Franz Xaver Witt's "Ad Te Levavi" (I have lifted up my soul to you O Lord). Quiet organ music, an improvisation based on the chant antiphon is usually quite good and not hard to do. I sometimes use an interlude based on Picardy for this.

Get the responses sung, the preface dialogue chanted, and sing the our father in addition to all the ordinary of the mass. By the time communion comes around most parishioners will have had an elegant sufficiency of singing.

And of course I should make mention that I prefer to go straight into an organ postlude after the dismissal or to chant a marian antiphon (such as salve regina simple tone) then followed by the postlude.

So in the one mass, there will be hymns, motets, propers and organ music.

How does everyone here present the antiphon or do you not.
What I mean is do you print hundreds of copies or do you just let the congregation join in singing if they can remember the melody?

Irishtenor, when I first visited your parish, I think the hymnal in the pews was Our Parish Prays and Sings. This would have been about 1965. And my dear grandparents grumbled regularly about "that nun" who did most of the singing from the loft. I would rather have heard "that nun" and the organ but was more often herded downstairs for the (shorter) Low Mass with folding chairs. Masses on the hour 6am to noon upstairs; on the half-hour downstairs. Quite a cattle call! Moo.