Open Cubase and click the "File" menu in the upper-left corner of your screen. From the drop-down menu, select "New" to create a new music project. If you have Cubase installed, you can find it on your "Start" menu (if using Windows) under "Programs," or in your "Applications" folder (if using Mac OS X), which appears inside your main hard drive or "Macintosh HD" folder.
Create a series of tracks for recording audio. Multi-tracking is the music industry standard for recording and involves recording each section of a musical piece onto a separate layer, or "track." For instance, you might record a drum beat on the first track, then add a bass line on the second track and guitars on the third. Add as many audio tracks as you will need for your particular project by selecting (Project > Add Track > Audio) from your menu bar at the top of your screen.
Connect any devices that you will need for your recording. For example, you can connect a guitar to your PC using a guitar USB cable or a TRS-to-3.5mm cable. You can connect an XLR microphone using an XLR-to-USB cable. You can connect multiple instruments using an external soundcard, known as an audio interface. Once connected, select (Devices > Device Setup) from your menu bar and select your device from the "VST Audiobay" or "VST Audio System" sub-menu (depending on your Cubase version).
Select any one of your blank tracks and click the round "Record" button to begin recording audio. Your tracks are the spaces between the horizontal lines on your project window. You might think of them as similar to lines on a sheet of paper or a stack of horizontal bars. When you finish a recording, click the "Stop" button, appearing beside the "Record" button.
Layer your music with additional tracks. To layer your music, just record so that your sound waves (recorded material) appear parallel to one another on their respective tracks. For example, if you record a lead guitar riff on track 1, and then record a rhythm guitar line on track 2, directly beneath the original recording, the two parts will overlap with one another and play simultaneously. Your project window works as a horizontal time line.
Mix your tracks. Select any track to which you would like to add effects, and then click "Inserts" on the left side of your screen. Choose an effect from the list to add dimension to your recorded material.
Export your finished song. After you record and mix all of your tracks to your liking, select (File > Export) to save your recording as a song file, suitable for MP3 players and other digital media devices.