backwoods
Hey Craigb, I feel for you but why were the feds chasing u? 
 
It's never happened to me ,  yet.... 

It was certainly nothing I did "wrong" (except that I was one of the few that had always followed the rules).  I got caught in the so-called "credit crunch" in 2008-2009.  Lots of questionable and outright illegal banking practices resulting in my losing two houses, an SUV and over $820,000 in net worth (most of which were in the houses).  So I'm starting over, but without any of the assistance that's available to youth or college grads.  Weeeeee! 

* Don't give Fat Terry your Simms-Watt amp to put in the studio window to sell for you, 'cos he won't give you the money.
 
* Don't listen to Arbuckle, about anything, he knows **** all.
 
* Don't buy that green van, they cut the chassis to put a V8 in it, and it'll fall to bits.
 
* Don't sell that Marshall stack, no matter how skint you are.
 
* Ignore Cubase 3.
 
* A Hondo SD Curlee is NOT a cool guitar.
 
* That girl at the gig in The Brunel Rooms is not going to be quite so impressed in the daylight, so make the most of it.
 
* Watch Simon the drummer, he's going crash into The Vibrators dressing room and head-butt the singer for chatting up his bird
 

 
 
 
 

For me I'd pick opening my mind and learning from an experienced mixing engineer or reading a lot of great articles on mixing, rather than assuming stuff and being too stubborn to change "my sound" (whatever that was at the time) when someone else gives you advice that you don't agree with, and usually because you just don't have the experience to know any better.
 
A great example is our first proper full length album. 2" 24 track tape, Studer recorder, Neve console, fantastic live room and selection of mics, racks of killer vintage effects... The recording engineer was competent, and I still managed to produce this thing into a steaming muddy mess. Every track was EQ'd to sound huge in isolation, rather than carving out its own sonic space. The choice of mics and positioning of the drums was terrible. The guitar processors we used to get "our" sound were terrible and made worse by the EQ choice. Compression? Sure, I've heard of it... I think? Let's turn it up and see what it does... Disaster.
 
So yeah, I'd have a good talk to that guy! HAHA! Shut your mouth, open your mind, listen to other people, understand why their mixes work, be prepared to rethink everything you know, and apply that to your own preferences.

Rain
Get what you really want instead of wasting money on alternatives.
...

Kids are gonna hate you ... c'mon pa ... gotta try that joint!

I'd go back to 1978 and tell myself to listen to that guy that's going to try and get you to invest in a music video production studio. There was a future there after all.

I would drum into myself the importance of waiting until everything's completely tracked and arranged before thinking about loading a single plugin. This has always been my ruination and the source of endless tail chasing. Getting sidetracked by trying to establish a decent mix before the parts are even half complete. I kid myself that it's important to get things sounding good with EQ etc early on because it will motivate and inspire my creative process. But in reality you end up wasting 10's of hours having to constantly rework mix strategies as the arrangement progresses. In all fairness (and perhaps the root of my downfall), I actually enjoy this endless cycle of writing, arranging and mixing. But when I've made a conscious effort to avoid any mixing, things have gone a lot better. For one thing you get more writing and arranging done, with more cohesive and consistent results. For another, not having the crutch of EQ or compression encourages you to track parts that sound pretty good together from the off without any tweaking. Meaning less EQ & compression required. I know this now, but I'm still set in my ways and don't have the best work ethic. Wish I'd developed a more productive workflow from the start. 

"You really should reconsider that full boat ride at University of the Pacific (as a percussionist) or the offer to join the special ops military band as a long drum drummer instead of following your dream".
But...
I would not trade my past with anything.

"Learn to site read music and play funky/slap bass."

Moshkito
Hi,
 
Stop cooking in restaurants, tell the university studies to take a fudge step, and get a synthesizer! Also tell one guy where to go with his ideas!

Thats cool . Only one guy ? I must be doing something wrong I got more than one .
 

BobF
"Quit screwing off and study more.  Then practice what you studied."

Bob, 
+1 , that one is on my plate just about very day in todays world .
 
thank s
 

dmbaer
Back in the 90s, I would have told myself to not buy ~ 15 grand worth of MIDI gear (rack-mount synths, etc.), much of which would just end up taking up self space and gathering dust.  I'd advise myself to just acquire a minimal setup and wait until computers were able to run those functions with much more panache and with much less expense.

@dmbaer, 
Whew , I remember how much all that stuff cost .
Acquired a lot of that type of gear when I worked at Manny's , only on a smaller scale … 
I thought I was doing good when I made the jump to a Hard Disc recorder in 2000'sh . Got a Boss BR1180CD …
Still have it and it ain't worth nothing  Yeah computers really changed the game .
thanks .
 

jimusic
I'd say,
"Don't bother buying that 8 or 16 track Tascam reel to reel tape machine that you'll get next to nothing recorded on, only to sell it for a major loss eventually anyways.
Wait a decade or so, until computers advance far enough that you'll be far better off investing just a fraction of that cost into something that's called a DAW.
 
Besides, until then, time will prove that you're really not going to get anything of any substance, quality or quantity recorded before then anyways."
 
But of course I won't have listened because of major GAS and equipment desire.
 
Therefore the whole point will have proven to be null and void.

@jimusic ,
Yeah , I enjoyed your post . I used to jones real hard and daydream wishing I could go there with that type of gear back then .
The best I could do for tape back then was a cassette Porta Studio …
The times Gas won out was OK for me … wound up getting a few nice guitars and keeping a couple of them …
It is enjoyable to discuss  this type of thing just to see how far we have come . Yet, I wouldn't change a thing …
thanks,
 

bapu
"Hey pre-Bapu; copyright, patent and otherwise protect that Am bass note ASAP."

Ed, 
You are a true one of a kind  
Regardless of whomever copyrighted that Am bass note you speak of , in my book you are the guy who owns it 
 

bapu
Oh, it's about musci production:
 
"Hey pre-Bapu; don't waste time trying to make everything louder than everything else. Just turn up the bass."

It sounds like you and I share the same type of production values . You say turn up the  Bass , and I say turn up the Geetar ….
actually , in truth , your music sounds good 
 
thanks , 
 
Kenny
 
 

Along the lines of my mayte Jaymes and his Marshall Stack....
 
"Don't trade up your Rick 4003 for the Alembic. Just buy the Alembic. In 2015 you'll crave that authentic sound and you'll not really get it from any Kontakt Library you happen to buy."