Open up a beat-making program and set the tempo for your beat. See the Resources section below for a link to a website that offers one of these programs. The overall tempo will differ depending on the type of beat you are making. For example, if you are making traditional East Coast or West Coast rap, a BPM (Beats Per Minute) of 95 is typically used. If you are making dirty South-style rap, it may be around 110 BPM.
Load up some drum sounds and create a drum pattern. You will need a bass kick, snare and hi hat sound at the least to make a good pattern. The common hip hop pattern, for example, is to have the kick hit on every first beat of a measure, the hi hat every other beat and the snare on the fourth beat of the measure.
Load up a bass sound and create a bass line. The bass line will be in sync with the drum beat, and will add the backbone to your beat. You can use a synthesized sound or even a real bass to make your bass line.
Add instruments to make a melody for your beat. You can use any type of instrument sound you want, from guitars and keyboards to strings and horns. You can use the live recording option in your program to record your melody parts in real time.
Mix, master and arrange your song. Arranging your beat means that you put it into chronological order by making verse and chorus sections. Mixing and mastering involve both individual instruments as well as the beat as a whole. It involves adding effects to instruments as well as adjusting volume levels to make your beat sound more professional. Save your file as an MP3.
Sign up for a free Soundclick account (see Resources). Soundclick is a website that allows you to put your music up for others to hear, purchase or give away for free.
Create a profile and music page. Upload your song to your page and set it up to be downloaded for free by other users.