What would you recommend for someone like me who doesn't have the time or money to go to any music school, but desperately wants to have the know-how to make good quality music using all the tools that are available to me beyond just "sounding good"?
the only way to learn how to make good quality music is to spend as much time as possible listening, playing, trying stuff, play with others if possible, etc. If you're talking about literacy, then you just gotta learn what the names of the notes are, etc. and that part is easy. i mean, i will tell you the names of the notes, i'll tell you what anything's called, just ask. (keep in mind, many things can be called different things in different parts of the world) but if try to ask me about rules of music i can't help you. the whole reason music exists in the first place is due to rule breaking