Tips/hints for recording more INSPIRED vocal performances?

What makes it flow like water for me is getting a glimpse of a production quality vocal, if I can hear compression I'll dig into it more or pull away when things get too hot.. I also send a cue mix to a verb / delay channel fed through headphones.

I won't record verb or delay because 9 / 10 times I'll change the blend ratio but I have no issues tracking with a fair amount of comp and EQ. It's suprising how much better things can sound when you're not guessing the end result.. For example it's awesome when you get up close to the mic on intimate passages and see how the verb / comp reacts to specific components like proximity, especially when I might want a more "ethereal" sounding vocal.. It's a quasi-musical relation where I feed off the sound and it feeds off me..!

If for whatever reason I don't have the above option, I tend to go as dry as possible.. Trying to automate verbs / delays etc. after the fact is "do-able" I suppose but a PITA because the vocalist isn't using his / her dynamic range and harmonics to match the effects.

I'm generally with wiz on the 3-takes-and-I'm-done approach, and it's how I work most of the time. But sometimes when you're the one engineering, it can get really hard to take off the engineer hat and put on the artist hat. (Wiz switches hats as well as anybody I've heard.)

In the cases where hat-switching is difficult, I've actually found it helpful on occasion to just loop the whole song and have Logic record take after take after take, each time creating a new track automatically. Once I hit a performance I really dig, I stop there.

Doing it that way gives me a chance to just get in the flow of singing, and not thinking about the engineering side. I might even experiment with a different melodic idea on a couple takes just to see where it goes. It becomes pretty evident where the law of diminishing returns kicks in, but then you just go back 2-3 takes from there, and there's usually something good.

It can be tough to engineer and sing, its too easy to phone it in.. The take can be technically correct, in pitch, on time, but that's not enough. No gear is going to fix it, I have to tap into that extra thing. Usually helps to warm up vocals for 30 minutes.. scales, then maybe sing along to some technical vocal songs, open up the top end.

jtc, very helpful. Thanks again to everyone for the insightful comments. BTW I'm used to having "perfect pitch" when singing live, but when I use a LDC close up, I cringe a little anticipating the breath noises I'll want to minimize/delete. I posted some vocal clips, on a different 
website. Between the breath anxiety, and a severe allergy going on-affecting my breathing (due to the Trabuco Canyon Fire)... It really sounded "phoned in" and not up to par.

Another factor that lifts the live performances, is typically the presence of at least a few strong singers, listening in the audience.
Last night, when I sang at the White House (Laguna Beach), that Monday Open Mic is hosted by Local Legend...Poul Pederson of The Missiles of October.
Poul has "perfect pitch" singing BTW and a superb Tenor voice. No coincidence I'm "on my toes" when he's listening!

If I "know" strong singers are there, it helps pull the best I'm (currently) capable of. (same for my chess-vs. strong masters or better-I play better!)

I suppose all this is better than the opposite. Those singers, who are struggling to have their live performances, approach their "doctored"
recorded ones!

Hmm.., Helps me understand better how Smokey Robinson produced all those great records. Meaning if you were performing in the studio, for a great Producer-who also can sing great, that can only help elevate the end result.

Chris

When recording others, the best option is to track them while they're doing warm up run-throughs. You usually get the best feeling performances when the singer isn't worried about getting everything perfect.. Which makes it more perfect.

For doing yourself? That's a tough one. All I can say is practice heavily and do it a lot in front of others to get the jitters out. Perhaps using emotions to do it. If it's an angry song, do it while you're angry, etc..

^^^^  That's it exactly.  Music is a team sport.  I could go elaborate and give you a couple dozen + really good reasons as to why not to record yourself, but it's a waste of time and energy.  If you've recorded vocals with a trusted producer / engineer, you already know.  If you haven't, you should try it once or a dozen times.  There is no substitute.  And yes, the RIGHT person is key.

I prefer to have the artist alone in the studio with myself, no other distractions or band members.  And no entourage.  And also no engineer.  If the studio has an engineer, I'll have him/her set things up and then go on a permanent break.  Sometimes I'll want the artist in the CR with me.  Other times, out in the "studio" proper.

Yes, you CAN record vocals yourself.  You can even get really good vocals recorded yourself.  But in my experience you can very, very rarely transcend beyond a nuts and bolts vocal and get inspired brilliance when sitting in a room by yourself - engineering and producing your own vocal.  

Getting that kind of brilliance is much easier achieved in a very special place that requires someone else with focused energy and vision pushing buttons, solving problems and giving feedback / ideas.  Someone that can build a fantasy/surreal environment - whether it requires technical, artistic, mood, beverage, etc. - for the specific song, and specific artist.  Sometimes it means getting out of the $200hr studio or personal bedroom and walking down to the local pub for a drink with a trusted confidant.  Sometimes it means turning off all the lights and meditating.  Sometimes it requires "surprise".  All of which are hard to do by yourself.  When the magic is achieved, then coming back in and killing it in one take.  And if done right with the right raw talent - it's often a brilliant take.  As a producer, you have to build a safe environment for the artist to perform in.  You can't do that yourself.

The OP did ask for "inspired" right?

My $0.02 devalued to $0.00002576 for streaming.

A gentle warning about recording yourself: If the mic is wrong, and you aren't singing at your best just remember, when you listen back... that's not the real you. I struggle with this, but it really hit home when I visited my friend 2 weeks ago. He has a Rode NTA1 and a studio projects C1, neither are going to deliver world class sound. For fun I ran the NT1A through a Rupert 511 & 73 EQ, it did give it a better top and warmer bottom. So my friend, my old vocalist, he says he can't sing anymore, he just 'lost it' a few years ago and has given up. As the night moves along he starts showing me the songs he wrote on the DAW, then he happily shows me some vocal ideas and sings a few bars. His voice is fine, actually sounds as perfect as ever, killer vibrato, incredibly airy overtones and fills the room. I'm like, "record that right now!"... So in 30 seconds he grabs the headphones, and starts to sing into the mic. His pitch is perfect, but no airy top, no overtones, the vibrato sounds forced and the whole thing was just no good. It was horrible actually, we didn't even listen back. Analyzing what happened I could see he was singing with much less volume, and really holding back. Not even close to how he sings in real life. After talking a bit, he says he worries people might hear him singing and think about what a bad singer he is, if he sings too loud without the monitors on. I understand that one lol. Luckily I was there to witness what was going on so I can see some solutions.

Just do it a lot.

That's really the only advice that I have.

In this case, yes.  You need to record yourself singing A LOT.  After some time, you will inevitably have insight and adjustment.

I wonder if part of it is just that you're not used to hearing a recording of yourself, but are very used to hearing yourself live.

That would be one of the adjustments you would need to make.  I had a reverse-path and have had to get used to hearing myself live!

Obviously having person #2 in the room adds to the live feel, quite a bit, but I'm not sure if that was implied in your question or not.

I also tend to perform more energetically when there's some person across a glass wall telling me "the tape is rolling now."

Most of the time though I am hacking away in this basement alone, so I'm focused on making that as good as it can be.  I'm sort of training myself to do what person #2 would do, but I "do it to myself."

I’ve seen a couple of producers have folks sing to specific people, use overly emphasized hand gestures or emote with the face and so on.

I saw Sylvia Massy tell someone once to “be Italian” with their gestures and clench their fists.

Whatever you’re doing technically or otherwise you gotta feel it.