Here’s a great way to make sure the singer is comfortable during recording…

When I started off in my first couple years of recording I use to record vocals like recording guitars. I would have the singer sing along and punch a word or two here and there and just tell them to sing along. It took me a while to figure it out but that’s not the best way in my opinion. It’s extremely hard for most singers to sing along and punch in a couple words mid-phrase and have it come out sounding natural and not sounding like it was “punched in”. Singers would often get frustrated because of the numerous times we would have to punch a couple words and it was the ultimate “vibe killer”. Eventually I learned about comping vocals and man was that a life saver! I learned that you could basically have the singer vibe out, sing the whole song front to back several times, and pick the best takes afterwards. Now I normally still focus on just a verse or chorus at a time with this method but some singers prefer all the way through the song and in that case I put their needs before mine. After all they are the artist and their comfort is crucial for a good session. Long story short…singers I have worked with since changing methods years ago always seem to leave with a smile. They were able to come in, sing their heart out, stay in their lane, and let me do the rest with comping. It’s definitely a great work flow too, try it out!