Only you know what kind of singer you are. But for the various types of singers out there here is the technique I've successfully used over the years to get a good, emotive, energetic vocal track-
For great to decent singers-
1. Record the vocal track from top to end. Don't stop, even for mistakes. Do this several times on different tracks. As long as the singer is comfortable standing there doing it and the voice is holding out. Some singers/songs get better in the delivery as the voice begins to give out (which is how the Beatles version of "Twist&Shout" came to be for example) In other instances, singers just get bad after singing too long. Especialy the same song on the same day. Don't erase any previous tracks. And don't listen to any previous tracks. Some singers only agree to sing once and that's it. So in that case, this exercise stops at step 1. But most of the time....
2. Come back tomorrow and do it again, following the above rules.
3. Do this as long as everyone wants. Sometimes, I've had this happen over the course of a month for just a lead vocal. A singer comes in, sings the entire song 1-3 times, and leaves. Comes back four days later and does it again. etc.
At the end of some period (a week, a month, whatever) the singer's interpretation and delivery of the entire lead vocal may very well be completely different than when the vocal sessions started. The singer has "lived" with the track for awhile and may (or may not) be now bringing all kinds of levels of emotion and excitement into the track that wasn't there the first time through. Or...vice versa. By that point in time, with lots of different takes, it's fairly easy to begin narrowing down where that great take is.
As a singer, give it the time frame you feel comfortable with. Even use your own "live" experience as a barometer. When you sing a song live, do you find you really crank out a new song with your best voice/interpretation after about a week of playing/singing it? A month? The first time and never again? Just follow the same procedure for your approach to recording it.
For singers who like to sing live...and don't like headphones, I've stuck them right in front of the monitors, sometimes with a hand held mic (if that's what they want). Sometimes that's all they need to get the feel. Knocking out the residual monitor leakage isn't hard to do in context to the track, especially if the track is a rocker.
The final step is to fix things after the fact to whatever degree needed.
---------------------------------------
For marginal to poor singers-
I record several complete passes, never listening to the previous. Then, I record only verse by verse etc several times. Then I only record sections that may have obviously contained notes out of the singer's range.
Then I listen. With the singer there, I suggest spots for overdubs or doubling. Or even spot changing of individual words. Depending on how surgical the singer wants to get. And....I will not hesitate to show the marginal/poor singer what autotune and melodyne can or can not do for the recorded tracks...letting the singer make the call as to if he/she wants me to incorporate those fixes.
When I have a final comped track together, I have the singer come in and simply "sing along" with himself (the comped track) from top to end a couple of times. There is usually a lot of energy in these final tracks. Sometimes, these singalong tracks become the best...or at least a source for doubling or word/line replacement etc.
