[soundsurfr]

I use all of the above (with the exception of the Autotune effect, which I hate) plus a few others.

1. Open up the preamps really wide (turn up the input level almost all the way) and bring down your record level to compensate so you don't get too much clipping. Allows you to close-mike the vocalist and have him/her sing at a lower volume level, giving it a very airy, breathy effect. Zappa used to do it alot. You could hear his tongue smack against the roof of his mouth when he spoke.

2. Compression/limiting. Use sparingly for a subtle smooth-out of the lead vocal, or squash the crap out of it for a more pronounced effect. I sometimes double and triple multi-part background vocals, then heavily compress them. Gives you sort of a wall of sound, almost like a lush keyboard pad.