track recording

No, I just mentioned sampling to pads because you seem to be having trouble, and that is a quick and relatively easy way to record.
You can also record directly to a track. See chapter 6 in your EX manual; it has step-by-step instructions.
We all want to dive and and start using a piece of gear like this when we get it, but the SP is pretty deep and sometimes not as intuitive as we'd like, but the manual is pretty thorough. So take some time to look through it and do some practice recording, practice songs, and - especially - practice editing just to see how to carry out the basic procedures.