If I get a tune in my head (thank goodness!), I get on the piano to write the music and figure out the melody with the lyrics;

and do the same thing with the guitar. Or play different chords and rhythms to get inspired.

There were times she missed chasing the dragon;

And living live with reckless abandon.

But more than anything she missed

Was the love of her life that she lost when she traded him for what

She shot up her wrist

But more than anything she missed

The sweet taste of freedom that she lost when she traded her life

For what she shot up her wrist

But more than...

Was the feeling of being loved for who she was and not pitied for what she did

But she was tired of fighting and lying and hiding

And ready to testify to get back her life

After writing out lyrics and melody, I review the construction and rhyme scheme of the song, and try to polish it up. Maybe schedule a consultation with professional collaborator  who has an objective point of view.  Or find a co-writer. If the song stinks, put it aside. Move on. (Oh, I'm still going
to look at it at a later time, I'm stubborn. ... Maybe I can use a part of the lyric in a fresh new song.)

So, to the left is an example of a few of the many tries at getting my bridge to Miranda written. I liked the first two lines, but could not figure out the the last two lines. Finally, I came up with:

"There were times she missed chasing the dragon,
and living life with reckless abandon.
She grew tired of the lies and alibis,
and finally came home to give life another try." 

Note: Yes, I have received feedback that the last line is a little weak
and could be better. This feedback helped me to improve my skills for
my next song. I love feedback, especially from a couple of different 
points of view. I learn a little something from every opinion.  

Record a guitar track with the rhythm I want (rock, rumba, bossa, blues, etc)and burn onto a cd to show my favorite audio engineer, Ken, the groove.

I rely on an experienced audio engineer because I have only figured out how to record basic instrumental and vocal tracks on Cubase and Protools, so far. Still learnin'...

Meet with engineer and sing to the track to communicate what I'm looking for. He loads my guitar track  into a Protools track (and then he adjusts my bad playing, ha ha). He plays with different drum and bass sounds (usually he knows what might sound good before I even finish singing the song to him). Then he plays and records a matching drum and bass track. The basic song structure is complete. All we need is extra instruments and vocals. 

ADD INSTRUMENTS TO MATCH THE SONG THAT IS IN MY HEAD

To the left, Ken is mixing my songs. He played a midi keyboard to add additional instruments. He made a lot of suggestions and saw my vision. He's an accomplished guitar and keyboardist, as well as a master engineer.  

The vocals are recorded in a verrrry quiet room with a high quality condenser mic.  The condenser picks up EVERYTHING. So if I did not warm up appropriately or practice like a good girl, the condenser knows……. Will require more takes….

The backup vocals were a blast to do. If I'm laughing, it's because Ken is talking in my headphones giving me a hard time. I like to harmonize with 7ths and 9ths and whatever sounds wierd and cool. Some folks might record all of the accompanying music to all of the songs before putting all of the vocals on, and some sing as each individual song is created.

During a mix, the engineer may take the best parts of each vocal take to make one good vocal track. He also makes sure the vocals and instruments don't drown each other out, as in mix... Then he may want to add an instrument to compliment the voice, like the sax in Denial!