I ran across a little tutorial that is easier to understand than many online FM tutorials:
http://www.anthropomorphic.us/fm/
While the author uses a VST plug-in called FMHeaven, you can follow along in the Fusion and grasp the same principles he demonstrates. It's actually surprisingly intuitive once you grasp the fundamentals. Now I know what those strange diagrams on the ROUTER page mean, and I actually understand how to create a Fusion FM sound...woot!
Still, I'm wondering what to do with the great DX7 templates you've provided above. Many of the presets sound very similar, creating a template sound mostly related to some kind of brash, electronic reed instrument. Supposedly there are literally thousands of DX7 patches out there for re-creation, especially since FM synthesis has seen a resurgence the past couple years thanks to soft synths. Do we create and share mediocre filler FM instruments for the Fusion just because we can?
Similar to what most of us can already do with VA synthesis, I can now comfortably produce on-demand several instrument families using FM synthesis alone (with filters) -- brass, electric pianos, wind instruments, organs, harpsichords, dirty leads, simple basses. My question is, do we really want these? The ROMPLER synth engine of the Fusion is much better at imitating these instruments... in fact, I'd bet the farm and say that it is the Fusion's open-ended ROMPLER (with its FM synthesis + filters + stackability + the mod matrix) that is far and away her crowning glory.
I guess we could take up Steve's suggestion in another post, or similar to what you've posted here, and make some "synth-templates" FM-style so that anyone interested could customize the templates and make their own versions of FM instruments... but does anyone really care for this? I myself am more interested in the weirder things FM synthesis can do... let the dozens of imitators relive the 80's glory days of FM synthesis with the easily available cheap knock-offs. I prefer to make FX sounds like shortwave radio, alien machine noises, and evolving soundscapes that only FM synthesis can produce, and leave this legacy with the Fusion to distinguish it from the rest of the flock.
Sorry if I've ruffled anyone's feathers, I'm a bit buzzed and just being my usual direct, disarmingly honest if somewhat misguided self. Anyways, I'm probably talking to an audience of about 3 anyway...
