This is how You start producing.

D.A.W.

A digital audio workstation (D.A.W.) is an electronic device or computer software application for recording, editing and producing audio files.

Start of by searching for D.A.W. that is perfect for your needs and taste.
There are plenty of D.A.W's out there. The most popular of them are:

• Image-Line FL Studio
• Ableton Live
• Apple Logic Pro X (only for Mac OS users),
• Apple Garage Band (Logic Pro for beginners :) )
• PreSonus Studio One
• Cockos Reaper
• Bitwig Studio
• Steinberg Cubase Pro
• Avid Pro Tools
• Propellerhead Reason
• Steinberg Nuendo
• Sony Creative Software Acid (an classic)

I'd recommend to use the most popular of workstations like FL, Ableton Live or Logic Pro as they will be mainly used in the tutorials you'll be watching.

A cool thing using a popular workstation like Image-Line FL Studio is that there are a lot of remake templates of tracks that people will give away for free to download. Use them to learn how the "BIG in-the-game" artists arranged and mixed their tracks. If you want to use them, try use your critical ear & find the ones that sound the closest to the original, because lots of them are really bad quality.

Get to know your D.A.W.'s interface

(Ableton Live 8 interface)

Learn how the interface of works:

• Inputs
• Outputs
• Channel Strips
• Automation
• Bussing
• e.c.

Audio Plugins

An audio plug-in, in computer software, is a plug-in that can add or enhance audio-related functionality in a computer program. Such functionality may include digital signal processing or sound synthesis. Audio plug-ins usually provide their own user interface, which often contains GUI widgets that can be used to control and visualise the plug-in's audio parameters.

(Waves mastering audio plugins)

Learn to use them & learn how they work.

Effect plugins:

• EQ (Lower not Rise),
• Compression - learn sidechain compression,
• Limiters,
• Reverbs,
• Delays,
• Filters,
• Distrotion units,
• Pitch correction plugins,
• e.c.

Go check out Xfer LFO Tool, because you can do sidechain, gating, filtering and other creative & technical stuff with it.

LFOTool is an FX utility plug-in for both Macintosh OS X® and Windows®. It empowers music producers to create tremolo, auto-pan, trance-gate, side-chain compressor simulation, and dubstep-type wobble effects with minimal effort.

(LFO Tool interface)

Virtual instrument plugins:

• Sampled based instruments - Pianos, Guitars, Organs e.c.,
• Synths,
• Drum machines,
• Samplers.

There are lots of professional audio plugin developers. My personal favourites are:

• Native Instruments - Kontakt, Massive, Reaktor 6,
• Waves - MAGIC :)
• FabFilter - Pro-Q 2(EQ) and Pro-G(Gater)
• u-He - Uhbik series, Filterscape
• Spectrasonics - Omnisphere & Trillian
• Korg - Legacy Cell, M1
• Xfer - LFOTool,Serum

Check out Pluginboutique for audio plugins, they are offering plugins for a discounted price and some even for free.

Synthesis & Modulation

Get to know Your synths and learn basics of synthesis & modulation. In the beginning it will help to edit synth sounds to Your song needs.
Get to know what is Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release,
Get to know basic filtering of oscillators,
Learn the basic oscilation types - Sine wave, Square wave, Triangle wave, Sawtooth and learn how to recognise them.
Syntorial

"Syntorial is video game-like training software, that will teach you how to program synth patches by ear. With almost 200 lessons, combining video demonstrations with interactive challenges, you’ll get hands on experience programming patches on a built-in soft synth, and learn everything you need to know to start making your own sounds with ease."

(Interface of Syntorial)

Sampling

As You mentioned that Your goal is to make hip hop/rap beats. Sampling should be a routine part on your production schedule.

Sample out everything you like - snare drums, cymbals, kicks, some synth sounds, parts of vocals or FX's. Only remember to be creative about sampling.

I have this friend whos sounds are 95% sampled from other popular tracks and you could never tell that he sampled anything.

I personally love Adobe Audition for sampling. It has Spectrogram/Spectral Frequency Display that allows you to clean your audio from unwanted artifacts easily just by looking at your audio file.

(Adobe Audition CC interface)

A spectrogram is a visual representation of the spectrum of frequencies in a sound or other signal as they vary with time or some other variable. Spectrograms are sometimes called spectral waterfalls, voiceprints, or voicegrams.

(Audio Waveform Display and Spectral Frequency Display)

Learn music from artists & songs that you love!

Analyse their songs:

• How do they do their arrangements?
• What kind of tempo they use for their songs?
• What kind of samples they use?
• How are their melodies and chords put together?
• How do they mix their songs ?

REMEMBER - Music is Art and it should consist of emotion and story.

Process of finally making the first tracks

As you start out learning music production and trying to make your first records to put on your Soundcloud page, keep things simple at the beginning and grow from there.

Here are the steps:

1. Create mashups - will help you learn basics of mixing.

A mashup is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another

Check for application called "Mixed In Key" and learn how to use it. It scans for the key of your song/acapella, so It will help you to find acapella that works great with the track you wish to mashup or other way around.

1. Create edits - edit the things you don't like in your favourite tracks, create a new intro, add percussion e.c. Change things for better, if you can think of better.
2. Create remixes & bootlegs - Your style, Your sound! Your version of a track - make a new melody, add your samples, cut up the vocals. Do anything You can think of.
   Remixes & bootlegs will help you gain plays and followers on your Soundcloud page if you'll remix some of the trendiest and hottest tacks a.t.m.

Quicktip:

Remember those times when your cellphone had polyphonic melodies? Search for midi files (extension .mid) and drop them in your workstation and see magic happen. :)
Create Your own records - after some good of those You'll be able to start trying to make & finish your own tracks, and you'll be at ease with this.

DONT FORGET TO EXPERIMENT!

What NOT to do!

• Don't think mastering will save your track, so get it as clean and close to the desired sound as you can.
• Don't be a perfectionist (just so you dont sit on it for too long) :)
• Don't stay on one track for long - Finish or Forget
• Don't think You can make a career out of it.
• Don't stop learning.
• Spend as less money you can on gear to make music as You start out.

IT DOESNT MATTER HOW YOU MAKE A GREAT RECORD AS LONG AS YOU MAKE A GREAT RECORD.

Resources and forums that will help learning music production:

Gearslutz - Gearslutz.com
KVR Audio forum - KVR Forum
Sound On Sound forum - Sound On Sound forum
Pensados place - Pensado's Place
Logic Pro Help forum (for Logic users) - Logic Pro Help

Hope this will be helpful,
If You have any of questions feel free to comment, I'll try to answer them for You.

Good luck,

@heywhoever