Set up the recording space. Adjust the microphone stand so that it is at a comfortable height for the singer. Some singers prefer to stoop to the microphone, others prefer to project upwards. Find out what your singer prefers. If you are recording an electric guitar performance, position the microphone in front of the amplifier's speaker. Remove all items from the recording area that make noise, such as cell phones, wind-chimes and clocks.
Set up performance monitoring. Monitoring is the audio term for listening. Both you and the singer need to hear the performance track as it happens. This is typically done with speakers in the control room and with headphones for the performer. If you are in the same room as the performer, you both need to wear headphones so that there is no sound overspill back into the microphone monitors. Route the headphones from the mixer or computer output jack.
Audition the microphone. Turn on the mixer or recording software and assign a channel for the microphone. Turn the monitor volume and channel gain down. Instruct the performer to play or sing. Gradually increase the monitor volume so that you can hear what is happening. Observe the gain meter on the microphone channel, if it is going red, lower the channel gain. If the vocal is making a "popping" sound, ask the singer to step back from the microphone as it comes out of the monitors.
Cue up the backing track. This might be a guitar line, some beats or a simple metronome pattern. Play the track through to the performer and seek feedback on its volume. Adjust the volume to suit the performer's taste.
Run three rehearsal takes. Press play and let the singer practice their performance. While the performer is practicing, listen out for any buzzing or odd sounds. You need to get as clean a take as possible. Sometimes a great performance can be rendered unusable due to unwanted sounds appearing on the performance track. Something as trivial as a beaded bracelet can cause enough noise to trash a performance. The rehearsals are your chance to remove these things from the take.
Hit record. Listen out for weaknesses in the take and make notes. Once the take is done, listen to the performer's opinion on it. If they want to go for another performance, tactfully offer advice based on your notes.