It's nice to hear from you again, robert_e_bone. I always enjoy your posts and also like looking at DJ Kitty :)
 
I do often have a problem with getting midi onto the early, foundation tracks of certain songs. The problem songs are generally those that I write on acoustic guitar, singing in a kind of ebb-and-flow ballad style. I tend to slow down and speed up to highlight the feeling for the lyric at certain points. The trouble is, the points may not be the same at each performance.
 
It's hard to anticipate the exact tempo and feel of the vocal in advance of actually singing the song; that is, it's hard to put the midi there before the audio of the vocal has been recorded.
 
Sometimes, when I try to figure it out, I feel like I'm spinning in circles. I want to make good recordings that have true spontaneous feeling in them but are also precise and not sloppily accompanied. It's almost like trying to play as a team player in an experimental jazz group or , say, trying to accompany early Barbra Streisand (no, I don't imagine I can sing like her. I'm confused about recording technique, not crazy! :) ) without being able to see the body language of the one calling the shots.
 
Sorry to bend your ear,
LJ