Pinging is a sign that when you adjusted the spoke tension the spokes twisted. The pinging is the spokes unwinding and likely throwing off the tension again. The fact that you didn't notice that happening isn't a great sign for a successful wheel repair but your enthusiasm to learn means you should be able to quickly gain the skills necessary to start fixing wheels.

I started learning here: Wheelbuilding

I then supplemented that knowledge with lots of practice and some more reading. I eventually got to the point where I feel comfortable building fairly difficult wheels (1.5mm spokes, lightweight rims, low spoke count). I've screwed up a few wheels along the way and learned some things the hard way. I could bore you with all that but just learning to a fix a single spoke doesn't really require all that much wheel building knowledge.