MIC SELECTION

If you happen to have a good condensor mic, I'd start with that. If you don't, the best dynamic mic you have will work fine(some people prefer a dynamic on vocals) I like a condensor because they're more sensitive to the charactoristics of the voice. I will usually try both though, sometimes a dynamic works better... It depends on the persons voice your recording.

If your going to add some pitch effects to give a little more of a "Deathy" sound, a condensor will save some intelligibility which will make it clearer in the mix... The same goes for adding distortion!

WORKING DISTANCE

A good distance is between 4 & 8 inches from the mic, I'll also tilt the mic up at about a 45 degree angle to reduce the sibilance (the "s" sounds) A good pop filter or wind screen helps alot too!

Make sure you put a tape line or "X" on the floor when you get the working distance that works best for you. That way if you do some different takes or overdubs your levels will stay the same.

GETTIN' IT ON TAPE

I like to use the most direct route to tape as I can, avoiding any unecessary electronics. If your board has a "Direct Out" from one or more channels, use them! That way you avoid going through the master section of the board, which can add noise.

Better yet, if you can avoid the board all together & use a mic preamp all the better.
I don't have a stand alone mic preamp myself, so I sometimes go strait into a compressor & out to tape, since I'm going to compress the vocals anyway, I bypass the board & any extra noise.

Also for those of you who want to use your computer for recording, there are many affordable sound cards out there with decent mic preamps built in. So you can go right from the mic to the digital domain. You might want to insert a compressor in between to keep your levels under control.

If all you have is a small board & no direct outs, dont worry! Just get a hot signal from the mic, watch your gain staging, & most important use your ears! If you hear noise or distortion, check your signal path... Is the vocalist too close to the mic? Too far away? Check your gain & watch your levels!

A note about compression...
If you have a compressor I would definetly use it on vocals, it helps to smooth out the varying levels almost all vocalists have. You'll notice it when he/she goes from all out killer scream in one line to a whisper in the next! It's hard to keep your board & tape levels from clipping, it is possible to "ride" the fader manually if you know when the line is coming, but a compressor can do it for you by reducing the gain during the loud parts & letting the softer sound thru uneffected.

This is a setting I start with, but tweak it to suit your needs...

COMPRESSION RATIO = 3:1 (3 to 1)
ATTACK TIME = around 1ms (1 millisecond)
RELEASE TIME = around 150ms (150 milliseconds)

Also, if your compressor has a "soft knee" or "overeasy" setting, use it... It's a little smoother than regular compression.

You can GO HERE for an explanation of compression

If you can, record the vocals dry (no effects) & add them at mix down, that way you'll have control
over the amount you want. If you're doing everything all at once, try using a little less than you
think...and try to think ahead to the final mix & how this sound will fit.

An important thing to remember is that reverb will move 'em farther back in the mix or have a less
"up front" feel to it (which is cool if that's what you want) Overly dense reverb or reverb with a
long decay time can "wash-out" or "blur" the sound, so watch the amount you use on 'em!

GOOD LUCK!!!