Lay down the foundation of the song to create the melody and main instrumental parts. Use live recorded drum tracks by plugging in the individual microphones for the drums into a mixer or sound card, or use prerecorded samples to create your own drum track. Arm the Track 1 for recording or import the loop or sampled rhythm into the track.
Record the bass track while playing along with the drum track. Plug your bass into your sound card and arm the track to record. Press play and the bass will be recorded in time with the drums as you play them. The bass and drums make up the foundation of the song, but some of the melodic content is in the bass line, so use it to create the main melody or vice versa.
Record the guitar tracks or keyboard tracks over the drums and bass. Arm the track and record each part individually. The keyboard track may be the melodic component while the guitar may be rhythm or melody. Record the melody and rhythm separately to get the best recording of each to complement the song. Use a microphone on an amplifier or a software-based guitar amp simulator for the best sound. Record the keyboard using a direct box to match the level of the output to your sound card.
Record the vocal tracks using the best microphone you have in your studio. Record the main track and then move onto overdubs, including harmonies and adding tracks for thickness. Make sure that the vocal lines match up with the feel of the instrumentation and that the lyrics are meaningful and suit the feel of the song.
Add the individual effects to each channel and instrument. Compress the bass as well as parts of the drums if they are separated. Add some reverb to the vocals and possibly to the guitar. Set the effects to sound natural when all of the instruments are being played at the same time.
Mix the song down to a stereo track. The mixing process takes all of the individual tracks and creates one stereo track. In Sonar, you can export or import all of the tracks and the program will combine them all with the levels as you see on the screen and hear when you play all of the tracks simultaneously. Re-mix if you feel any of the individual tracks are too low or too loud or require a different effect.