Great post, Teysha! I agree, I'd also add to the above statement that it's amazing how much one can learn from messing around with an old-style analog synth, like a modular Moog, Paia, or Arp 2500/2600. The hardware is harder to find these days, but there are some decent VSTi emulators out there.
I grew up on 4-track as well (both open reel 3340 and a couple of generations of Poratstudio), and you're right, they are great learning environments. But I also learned so much about signal processing from several years messing with an Arp 2600 that I consider it an invaluable experience. Everything from envelope shaping and ADSR control to filtering, triggering and compression, to associating sounds with waveform shapes to managing gain structure is stuff you have to learn and deal with when you have a couple dozen patch cords dangling off the front of the synth to get your next interesting effect or sound
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G.
P.S. "Hung like a Naiant"? That's hilarious (not to mention mshilarious 
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