Communication is extremely important in all areas of life and unfortunately it's easy to neglect. The importance of communication when recording is obvious but rarely talked about (it's more fun to talk about mics or that new mixer you want). However, I feel we all need to give a little bit of attention to this aspect of the recording process.
Before you start a session go and talk with the musicians make them feel comfortable and get to know a little about the music you'll be recording that day. Even if you have planed to do something it's always a possibility that the artist may have something different in mind.
Also it's always wise to inquire about the artist personally. I say this because during a session I was doing a few years ago I was not getting a good performance out of the vocalist and I kept pushing, not to hard just asking if we could do another take after three tries she left without saying a word. It wasn't until two weeks latter when we had another session that I learned she was having chest pains and couldn't breath(a few months latter she had a heart attack, but she's ok now). This illustrates the importance of making sure the artist and you are communicating, that day I was in a hurry and didn't stop to find out how the artist was feeling. Always make sure that the artist knows that if they have any problems that they can talk to you, and maybe you won't wind up contributing to someone heart attack.
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