Don't pull the mic so far away from your mouth that it ceases to pick your voice up.

If your vocal technique is correct, you should not have huge differences in volume.

Slightly pull a mic away from your mouth sort of to the side on power notes. This can even help you properly "pull" instead of "push" your vocal sound.

And lastly, a couple of random mic ettiquite tips.

Always try to schedule a mic check before beginning your performance.

Never point a mic at a speaker.

Avoid mashing and crimping the cord at the base to avoid shorting it.

Microphones are the "hole in the fence" you sing through to reach an audience. You need to know what to do with them. Here are some tips for developing great mic technique:

Don't hold a mic like an ice cream cone.

Don't hold the butt end of the mic up continuously.

Do hold a mic at 45 degrees. This helps you pull instead of push your voice.
The slant you hold the mic at can make a big difference in how wide your ribs are (where your diaphragm is connected) and in where your chin is affecting how tight your throat is.

Holding it like an ice cream cone will also limit what it picks up in your voice, making it sound thin instead of rich. When you do hold a mic with butt end up for dramatic effect, make sure your elbows are out from your sides so your ribcage expands.

Don't hold a mic in your hand limply. Many people do this. Believe it or not, it usually causes a loss of breath support and control, which will go on to affect the throat.

Do grasp a mic steady in the groove between thumb and fingers, with energy, and make it part of your feeling of power.

Do squeeze a mic for extra breath power and control.
You can do this with both hands around the mic. But
Don't let this squeeze transfer up your arm and don't let this squeeze cause you to squeeze your elbows into your sides
When you squeeze the mic, do it in such a way that it causes your ribcage and nostrals to expand. Sounds strange, but you must learn to power yourself open instead of closed.

How Long Does It Take? How Bad Do You Want It?

I've been in the studio a lot lately and have become freshly aware that new people are frequently freaked at how much effort it takes to capture a truly great vocal performance.It's harder for men to understand this, but it's kind of like having a baby. The "labor" can be truly intense, but when that "baby is born", you are so proud of your labors you hardly remember the toil! (Well, OK, you might remember but you'd do it all over again!)

First, ask yourself: how bad do you want to land that great vocal?

Prepare for your recording date:
Train your voice to optimal condition at vocal lessons and vocal exercises.
Practice your songs so you know them like the back of your hand. Experiment with phrasing, melodic variations, keys.
Record worktapes of your efforts and playback.
Memorize your lyrics, reading them will be like a wall between you and your audience and will negatively affect your performance in other subtle ways.
Sing at full performance voice level for at least two or three hours every day for a week before your recording.
Drink plenty of water the day before your session.
Eat a non-mucus forming healthy, protein rich breakfast and/or lunch before you sing.
Keep your mind stress-free, peaceful and calm on the morning before you sing. Don't get into arguments, long phone conversations, don't watch TV, etc.
If you think this is like preparing for an Olympic event, you're right.
Now that you're ready, how long should it take to capture that incredible vocal?
If you are doing a demo or a budget project, I usually recommend figuring on from one to three hours per vocal.
1/2 an hour is possible, but I wouldn't count on it. Don't put that violin, 4th background vocal, oboe or second guitar on it if that means sacrificing lead vocal recording time.
If you are trying for master vocals (vocals good enough for radio airplay) two songs a day is a good goal. Be sure and dress comfortably; if possible, have someone producing your vocals that you trust knows how to get the best out of you, and who empowers you personally. Schedule your recording time when you are usually awake, warmed up and at your vocal best.

Warning: Yes, there is effort involved but know when you're beating a dead horse. You can coax, wait for and give time for, but you can't force a great vocal. For master quality vocals there should be enough budget that if you are sick, not in best voice or mood on the day of recording, you stop, pay the studio for the time and reschedule your lead vocals for another day. That's right, just eat the recording money for the day and chill out. It just kills you to do this but, as I know from experience, you'll come back and be able to get a better vocal in much less time than you ever would by trying to MAKE it happen on a bad day.

At a certain point in vocal training, students reach new plateaus in vocal improvement by starting at their voice's end result first. They have consciously focus on creating buzz.

Buzz is not just a music promotion term. It's a synonym for vibration, and for the voice it is all important where that vibration sets in. When vocal sound is created most effectively, the singer will feel a buzzing sensation in the chest, mask, I've heard some people say they even notice it in the tailbone.
If we purpose to make a buzzy sensation in these places, we can (if we've developed the appropriate muscle memory before-hand), find our automatic nervous system directing our anatomy to line up and do just that buzz our bones & sinuses.

We must be careful not to confuse a buzzing mask or chest with throat voice. We must NOT be conscious of buzzing our larynx, unless we put our hand on the middle of our neck and feel it. We must also not confuse the mask buzzing with nasality caused by a closed or tight nose. The masky buzz desirable for great vocal tone has to have an open nose to vibrate.

The buzz, if properly created by supported and controlled breath pressure, will travel as the pitch changes. You sometimes feel it in the skull, eye sockets, cheekbones, soft palate, jawbone, sternum. Just keep the buzz from becoming muted. Unless you don't want anyone to hear you.

Buzz yourself, and you buzz your audience. They will love the feeling, too.

Making Your Act As Commanding Visually As It Is Musically Is What Sells. Period..!!!.

There is one more factor in your choice of producer - the POLITICAL factor. Questions you may wish to explore: Can this person get your project heard by the industry? Who does this person know and are they willing to submit (pitch) your project to record labels? What is their track record of getting artists signed?

You may be surprised, but I suggest it's smarter to go with someone who will not promise to submit your project. The truth is, a producer that submits every project they do to the label powers-that-be will have a very poor reputation. This is because not every project is going to fit the business models of the people the producer knows. The wise producer knows to wait until hthe final mix is done before deciding when, where or if to pitch it to their contacts.

There are, of course, producers who do pitch everything they produce. These are major producers with track records of commercial success which they want to keep building. They will only take certain projects on because they know that they are gambling their reputations with the labels on every project they pitch.
If they agree to work with you, their fees and negotiated points will be much more expensive.
Actually, they usually only take on projects already signed with significant record labels.

Bottom line:

Your project could end up being something YOU have to promote and sell or pitch to powers that be. You need to know and be willing to do that before you commit your time, heart, energy and money to a recording project.
A producer may legitimately fully intend to pitch you to his or her contacts.
But if someone promises that if you choose them to produce your project they will make you a big star, run the other way. And don't look back!

I asked one of the prominent producer in Tanzania for his opinion as to what a new artist can typically expect to pay an honest producer who can get a great, possibly radio-ready project done on a limited budget.
His thoughts confirmed my experience:
A common range of producer fee is from $200 to $500 per side (song), according to time in the studio and type of project required (demo or master, backing vocals or not, is there a vocal producer on the team, how long to budget for lead vocals, tuning, mixing, etc).

The producer's fees of course are added to the budget along with the costs of musicians, studio, engineer, pre-production vocal lessons, etc. If you are doing a project for sale, remember to budget for photo shoots, graphics & duplication, etc.

How can the performer do the least amount of work and sing with high dynamic and intensity, without the pain and tension of hunkering down in fear trying to do his or her best work?

The singer must have back control over her body. What this means is, the singer back the ability to release the accumulated tension in his body as he performs. The performer must be aware of where she is habitually holding in her body, and gently learn to release this tension, which in many singers manifests as strangling the voice and causing physical pain.

The effect of letting go of the tension that doesn't work, is to let the voice come out bigger and with more beautiful tone. We have a saying in this technique,

"If you can let go of the tension in a muscle, you have control over it and can do what works".

If you replace one set of habits with another set of habits, even if the new habits are much better technically, you can still get back into physical trouble. Unnecessary tension causes compression in the joints, forcing you to hurt and be off balance, and makes what looks right fail.

Singing with high dynamic means you perform with expressive intensity. It is in our interest as JC-RECORDS to see that you do this without sacrificing your body and without hurting yourself.

You need to separate rehearsing technically from rehearsing performance communication. You should rehearse technically until you don't have to think, then completely go on stage in your mind and perform to the unseen other who will be listening to your CD. You have to make this person real for yourself  much like an actor going into character.

DO NOT practice performance much. Just when you're ready, once or twice at the most, a day. Only practice the drills of technically performing the song.

It's a mind thing, and a set-place thing. When you perform, the act won't be authentic without the listener involved. THE CONTROL ROOM DOESN"T COUNT.
Sing to the beings who will be listening to your CD. But then once you've performed, it can't feel authentic again for a while, because after all, the listener's already heard it, and for goodness sakes you don't want to bore them. And think about it, once someone performs in an olympic event, does anyone ask them to repeat that all-out performance again that same day??? Not and live to tell about it.

And I mean not only in live performance, but in seeking that studio master vocal as well. If you have to sing it too many times, you need to park it and come back another day. Even making an actor do a scene too many times takes the life right out of it as they lose perspective and inhibition creeps in.

Singing Into a Spotlight:

Singing onstage while being blinded by a spotlight can be disconcerting if you're not used to it.

Here's what you are supposed to do.
Pick a spot in the whiteness, in the middle of where you think the audience will be sitting, and sing to that spot like it is a person.
It will be a person, and they will think you're singing right to them. When you do this, everyone around that person will also think you're singing directly to them, because that's the way it will look from their point of view.

Move this focal "spot" several times while singing the song, to another place in the whiteness and sing to someone else. Don't do this rapidly, try to make it real for yourself and pace it as if you were really connected to each person.

Don't move the "spots" you sing to too far up or you'll be perceived as singing over everyone's heads. Keep them at about audience level. You'll get used to it quickly.

You can use this trick if ever you need to talk or sing to a camera. Many times you will be directed NOT to look at a camera when performing, but if you are supposed to (say for a video, or for a photo shoot) just look directly at the eye of the camera like you would look into human eyes... the eyes of whoever you'd logically be talking or singing to at the time.

This works in the "blackness" you see, as well. Just pick a spot in the general direction of where you think your audience is.

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To summarize, here are 6 big tips to help increase your pitch accuracy:

POSTURE : stand or sit tall and confidently, head balanced on tailbone.
WARM UP : your voice correctly throughout your whole range, mixing it.
LISTEN : to the music, especially acoustic instruments such as piano and guitar.
DON'T LISTEN : to swimmy instruments or bass to get your pitch center.
AIM : at the pitch intend to hit a specific note.
CONFIDENCE : expect to hit it!
PRACTICE PERFECTLY : don't allow yourself to be content with pitchiness.
Practice hitting the note you're aiming for, instead of allowing yourself to sing "pitchy".
You'll train your ear to be much more accurate when you practice accuracy.

Let me know this works for you, and anything else you'd like to add.

Pitch problems can be frustrating, especially subtle ones that are not quite a half-step off. Here are my thoughts on the matter.

I often find pitch issues to be directly related to physical tension. This unnecessary tension can act like someone tugging on the arm of a person playing a fretless instrument. There would be no way to hit the notes perfectly in tune with that kind of outside interference.

Another source of inaccurate pitch is physical tightness in your throat channel when you sing. Your throat should open in three directions, up (soft palate and nasal membrane), down (jaw and tongue positions) and back (head balanced, tension-free, on tailbone instead of in front).

Problem-causing physical tension can originate from what I like to call "tense thinking", psychological anxiety, causing physical guarding, collapsing the "scaffolding" from which the voice works most accurately.

Pitch problems can also stem from wrong vocal technique habits, such as powering your voice from too high in the body. Move your feeling of where power comes from lower, at the pelvic floor, (squeeze your butt for power, not your neck, chest or shoulders) and get taller, lengthening your spine when you sing instead of compressing it and make sure your head is not forward.

An action that can help get pitch right is to make sure you've warmed your voice up throughout your whole range. When the muscles controlling your head and chest voice are equally strong, aiming at pitch becomes much easier. Important: don't just do vocal exercises, find out how to do them CORRECTLY!

Another positive action is to focus your listening to an acoustic instrument in the track or band, instead of swimmy things or low instruments whose overtones tend not to be accurate and will through your pitch off.

Step 1.

Choose the harmonies closest to the melody if you are the only background singer. Second melodies are harder to process while singing and can often become single, drone notes if you are not careful.

Step 2.

Sing less forcefully than the lead singer. Unless you are singing a duet, your microphone should be turned down and extra reverb may even be added to your voice.

Step 3.

Avoid vibrato as much as possible. Your vibrato may not match that of the lead singer or other harmonizers, and this can easily ruin the sound of a performance unless it is done extremely well.

Step 4.

Blend with other singers. The intent of background vocals is to enhance the performance while still emphasizing lead singers.

Step 5.

Sing with confidence. Know your part well. It is often hard to hear yourself and other singers as well as you would like to, and you are likely to miss notes or become completely inaudible if you lack confidence. Plus, if you do not know your part well, you may jump into harmonies that are supposed to be sung by other vocalists.

Method 2:

Step 1.

Listen to music as often as you can and stop singing along to the melodies. Hear what harmonies are sung on your favorite songs and practice singing only them. Part of learning background harmony is to develop an ear for it, or make it instinctive, so that you can sing harmonies to songs you have never even heard before.

Step 2.

Get together with another singer who knows harmony, preferably the person you will sing background to. Sing the melody of a song and let the other person show you one or both harmonies. Switch parts, and let the singer give you advice on how to be a stronger harmonizer. This, combined with practicing to every song you hear, is the most powerful way to learn harmony, especially if you do not play an instrument or even understand the theory of how you are harmonizing.

Step 3.

Play simple songs when practicing harmonies. In other words, play songs that have the same lead vocal structure and the same three or four chords throughout their duration.

Step 4.

Practice confidently and louder than you would when performing. When you are singing to a recording, you can really let loose and test your harmonies to see if they fit well and consistently with the song.

Background harmonies, in particular, are more subtle harmonies that are used to complement a lead or main vocalist in popular styles of music, such as rock, pop and hip-hop. Background harmonies are the beginning point for most singers who are learning about harmonic theory, and they are much easier than other, more intricate harmonies.

Step 1:

Learn the key and lead, or main melody, of the song you wish to sing background to and know it well. Harmonies use other notes in the same key to shape themselves around the main vocal part.

Step 2:

Play this lead on your instrument, preferably a piano. While playing, pay attention to the main key the song is in, as well as the keys that are used throughout the song. Beginner harmonies with lead and background vocals are structured much like musical major and minor chords, or the first, third and fifth note in a key.

Step 3:

Incorporate harmonies on the instrument. If your melody is based on the home note, or first note in a key, the first harmony will be based on the third note. Thus, if you play C, G, F for your lead melody, play E, B, A for your first harmony. First harmonies almost always move exactly how the melody moves because they are the harmonies closest to the melody. Thus, in the key of C, if your melody is based on the third, or E, your first harmony will still be based on the C. Second harmonies involve fifth notes or harmonies that are farther apart, and do not always change when other notes do in order to maintain the correct chord structure.

Step 4:

Practice singing along with these harmonies. Also, exercise your ear for harmony by playing various chord progressions and singing only the first, third or fifth note of each chord.