Yup - always recording dry is good practice
If hearing some reverb / fx helps with the performance then it is normal to add reverb to the monitor mix the performer hears back - but this is NOT recorded
Unless you have some nice sounding rooms available
Some stuff we do when recording:
- Overdubbed vocals often dry, with some reverb in the monitor feed if it helps the performer
- When in situations where there will be significant bleed between mics (like making a live youtube vid or something), will often try to use the best available room and position mics to get a nice/sympathetic natural reverb.
- Often record with multiple mics - one to record as dry as possible (e.g. close mic'ing the acoustic with 1 or 2 mics) and then one or 2 set further back to capture the ambience. You then have a natural reverb for the performance which can be mixed in at will, or thrown out completely. I often setup some ambience mics even in small or rubbish rooms. I usually throw it out, but sometimes I get a nice surprise...
It depends a lot on the style of music and what you want to do with the song I guess. I record a lot of indie/folk stuff that responds well to a more natural feel. Sometimes you might have some specific effects in mind that you want to apply to the vocal or whatever so recording dry is a must there....
One instrument I always record dry is acoustic bass. Sounds so nice but I just cant ever capture properly. I usually end up blending a tonne of close mics and a DI feed and compressing the bejesus out of it...