It's a combo of Ableton and protools. If you want what I used on any individual instrument lines let me know which. How you produce really depends on what DAW you are working in and what virtual instrument you have I work with as far a midi programming. I have a huge sample library of drums and wave hits/loops from different genres if you're interested I can send a bunch to you I you want. You're going to have to specify a little bit because there is too much to upload in one sitting lol, but if you want things like snare hits, disco guitar riffs, breakbeat percussion, etc. let me know. If you want composition or form advice, I would say find a couple of your favorite songs of the style(s) you're trying to make and copy the form of the track, bar for bar. There are also a bunch of YouTube tutorials for synth building. Even I you don't have the same vst a the tutorial, as long a you have similar oscillator/filter setup on your vst, you can probably get something similar.
I figured you might answer something like that. Here's the thing: I have no interest in constructing new sounds. Synths kind of confuse me and kind of bore me. So I've been trying to go with entirely sample-based production (with the occasional 808 or whatever). Is that totally unreasonable? Does my dislike of aural engineering mean producing just isn't for me?
Check out pretty lights, his stuff is pretty much 100% sample based and a lot of it is awesome. Form is kind of important to know, even If you choose to break it. As I said I have a massive sample library if you would like anything in particular, I may be able to help.