I know we've already got a daunting collection of stickied threads in this forum, but I think if there's any other topic that needs a sticky, it's production. The problem with the art of production is that it's an art that takes many years to truly master. As one of many upstart musicians who lack experience in this field, I say this forum needs a database of production knowledge.
What we need are links to training resources. We need book recommendations, tutorials, and other forms of study media. People can ask questions about concepts, hardware, genre-specific tips and other related issues.
Mastery of this skill is a long-term commitment, but with a thread like this, we can at least help to accelerate that process.
COMPILED RESOURCES:
Websites:
Dave Moulton's website w/ articles
The Loudness Race (server down much)
Waves site 1 & 2 (guides and plugins)
Tutorials:
general tutorial from Gamedev.net
Dave Moulton's Golden Ears training
Books:
Digital Recording, Software & Plug-Ins by Bill Gibson
The Art of Mixing, 2nd Ed. by David Gibson
The Mixing Engineer's Handbook, 2nd Ed. by Bobby Owsinski
Hardware:
KRK rockit powered speakers
Creamware products
Powercore Element
Powercore PCI MKII & plugins
Virus/powercore synthesizer
Plugins & VSTs:
Inspector plugin suite
Firium mastering EQ
Har-Bal EQ system
Interruptor delay
Arts Acoustic reverb
Kjaerhus Golden Series plugins
Ohm Force plugins
Sonic Flavors R66 reverb
Audio Damage products
Elemental Audio plugins
URS EQ plugins
s(m)exoscope
Optimaster (creamware)
UAD-1 (creamware)
Vinco compressor (creamware)
PSY Q processor (creamware)
Other Resources:
zircon's Production thread
(Also read through the thread. Remixers have shared many helpful tips!)