When working by myself, I start by recording a scratch track ( simple vocal and rythm guitar with a click going to keep me on time) this gets lost later on, it's just an overall referance track to build everything else on. The first "real track" I lay down is usually the bass line (played along with the scratch track), when I'm happy with how the bass track sounds I record the drum track(s). Bass and drums are the foundation of most songs, if you get these parts right the rest is a lot easier. Then I come back and redo the rythm guitar track. Once these three are down I can drop the scratch track and add the main vocals. Add in the lead guitar (keyboard or whatever the primary lead instrument happens to be) then any additional instruments and harmony vocals (if desired.) Tweak the mix a little wherever you need to but don't get carried away with adding efx so that it sounds good to you. SAVE THE WAV FILE and DATA FILE. Burn a CD and listen to it on several different stereos, if something sounds "out of whack" reopen the file and fix the mix, after a few tries you should come up with an acceptable recording, if not then you screwed up and need to start over.
There is no set order for which track to record first and I don't always do it exactly like outlined above. What I have suggested is just what works for me (most of the time). It dosen't matter where you start, but the first track is the hardest and has to be as cloce to perfect as possible, if it's off then it will throw all the others off too. Within a few tries you will discover the order that works best for you, we all hear things a little bit differently and change the order accordingly.
