NB - Remember, once the backing track is recorded, you cannot change the click track.

• Organise a mutually convenient time to record the backing vocal, and make sure that enough time is allocated to it. It is not a good idea to do it at the end of a rehearsal as everyone will be tired and desparate to get home. You will also need a reasonable space to record, especially if you are recording a number of people. As with any live recording, try to pick a time and a place where there will be as little sonic interference as possible.
  
• Give yourself enough time to set up. You should bring your recorder, microphones plus spares, a mixer, plenty of whatever the recorder uses (Tapes, Mini-Disks etc), a good length of mains cable and enough 13amp sockets. If you are not in a studio setting, you can probably give a set of headphones to the MD and/or drummer so they can hear the click, and use a piano as backing for the singers, placing it as far away as possible from your mics. You will get some spill on your vocal tracks, but when mixed with the live band this will probably not be noticeable. Make sure you can drive the number of headphones you use with either the mixer headphone amp(some mixers have fairly low power headphone outputs) or use a separate headphone amplifier.
  
• Get as good a vocal sound as you can. Use good mics and experiment if necessary. Make sure that the singers know their parts (not your job, but suggest to the MD that it is best to record the singers some time into the rehearsal period), and suggest if they are struggling that you might do the recording in sections. This is easier if you have a number that has reasonable spaces (although if you have a recorder with more tracks than you need you can overdub and bounce down) and also if you have another track which has the bar numbers recorded onto it.
  
• Make sure that the recording fits the style of the staging – for example, be wary of using male voices in a number that is sung predominantly by females and vice versa. Also, if possible, try to match the ambience of the staging and the venue. If the number is set in a cathedral and the venue is a large 1000 seat theatre, a certain amount of reverb and a large sound is acceptable, whereas it might be inappropriate for a number set in a living room performed in a 100 seat studio theatre.
  
• If you can, do several ‘takes’ and keep them – you may be able to edit the good bits from each one into a single good take.
  
• Once the recording is finished, do a back-up copy.