my advice, take a piece of gear out of your rig. put some headphones on, plug your instrument into the wall, and sit on a comfortable chair. get well caffeinated/ stoned (with legally purchased pot from your nearest cannabis wholesaler. word up oakland!) and just sit twisting knobs all day maybe with slow motion car crash test footage on your video projector (well that's just what i'd do). then the next day, get a clear head and read the manual, or pdf of the manual on your laptop, on the bus, ferry or train to work. then do it over again with another piece of gear. you'll be making enough weird noises to make a dog sick to its stomach in no time.

there are alot of resources online about synthesis as well as books and cds. my fav is wendy carlos' "secrets of synthesis"

but don't collect any gear until you've fully mastered everything inside the last piece of kit. or start reading gear porn mags like futuremusic you just start going, 'i hella need that!'

sean.