A lot of what you need depends on what you want to make. If you want to make synth based techno, learn your subtractive synthesis. If you want to make hip-hop, get a shit-ton of records and a sampler. I'm being stereotypical of course but I hope you catch my drift. The instruments you entertain distinctly shape your sound. I used to try to make house basslines with my nord lead. Wouldn't work. House has a much more organic feel and the Nord is all techy synth. Great for acid, but you can't get a live conga tone out of it.

You listed a lot of sequencers, and that's great. I recommend picking one and learning the crap out of it. Similar to a particular instrument; learn it really well, be it a sampler, synth or effect.

As for gear, I would figure out your niche before dropping dough on hardware.

Anyway, do your research and as Hydrogen states, "just start making tracks." You are going to make complete crap at first and that's OK. It's a learning process so GET GOING!

but seriously, I started making tracks in "acid pro" a little while back and little did I know that what I learned with that program would help me out in the future with a whole lineup of much better programs.

Learn to sequence midi, learn to chop and slice wav. files and arrange them.
Learn to build drums, maybe make some hip-hop inspired beats to slow things down and focus on sound placement.

Either way as long as there is some noise coming from your speakers, you are learning.

there are a lot of free programs on the internets too if you dont want to shell out dough for some of the big boys.

make sure you are having fun ;)

if you want to learn about different types of synthesis Reason is really the best thing.
its got an easier learning curve than something like reaktor, but it will still let you play around with a all the basic synthesis techniques, i.e.
subtractive
wave table
phase modulation
fm
and a basic granular synth

personally i use reason pretty much standalone. but i would recommend getting a sequencer like ableton as well.

reason is a great way to learn, that's what i first used as well. however, i do recommend getting something else like ableton because reason can't do any audio (save for the sampling), its strictly MIDI-based, which you might find to be limiting further down the road.

Just started another thread about a GREAT 20th century MUSIC THEORY book. Check it son! You need this, seriously.

take a piano class or get somebody cool to teach you. this helped me alot. you will fall in love with techno all over again.

it doesn't matter what you produce on. just do it. get yourself a drum machine a sampler ableton... reason, distortion pedal, a microphone... just make some noise. making music is more important than the result. i see way too many people fussing over the details and never going anywhere. get an FX box and make feedback cool again. i don't know.

the deal is that you should never try to be just like everyone else. doppler effect said that 'if you follow some trend that's out there it will have come and gone already by the time you're done with your track. you should make your own trends be that change in techno' (i. e.) don't be don't be the reaction to it. i'm sure you'll find that once you start jamming out on whatever, techno will be the result. cause its what you like and it will sound like you and nobody else ... that's the important thing.

i use ableton live, 1 novation x-station, a m-audio microtrack, and a juno 106 and i make bleepy fun.

i have gone through a lot of different items to find out what i love to use the most, but these days, i enjoy using only a few things, but mostly cause there is so much in ableton now.

word. -b