Start here:
https://www.yamahasynth.com/learn/synth-programming/fm-101-article-series

Thanks Dragos!

I will check it, just skimmed through it for a minute, it looks interesting.

[quotePost id=116477]
I can basically answer "What is FM Synthesis and how does it work?" but I don't know what it can produce or what sounds I can make with it.
[/quotePost]

This should be resolved first, for many reasons, the biggest being that you may not like the sounds that FM tends to make, and therefore never need to go to the next part...

[quotePost id=116477]
I also don't know its typical workflow (where to start, which parameters to adjust first, how to shape your sound, etc...)
[/quotePost]

But you can somewhat achieve a bit of both (and more MODX familiarity) by going through the onboard MODX and Montage eXpanded presets (install if you haven't already, they are free and very revealing).

It might take about (I'd guess) 4 hours a day x 10 days, to properly go through all the FM-X presets and play a bit of each, listen to them with different arps, twiddle their assigns and the SuperKnob and (lastly) hear their Auditions (if it has one, many do not).

This will be time well spent. Have a pen and paper nearby to write notes about the ones you like, as you do this discovery process.

FM is actually PM... which is also a huge elephant in the room.

If you discover that you actually like the sounds of FM (PM), and you use a computer and DAW sometimes, check out the freemium synth, Vital. It has a super elegant set of abilities with FM and PM, so you can experiment visually and get a very good feel for what is what, and how it all works.

Vital's synthesis approach is a more powerful/flexible FM and PM than the MODX/Montage have, and vastly more transparent with regards what goes on, but probably the fastest way to learn FM/PM synthesis and how it differs from actual FM so that you can extract sounds and motions you actually want. All knowledge gained in Vital will be instantly portable to MODX/Montage, and all other "FM" synths, too.

And you might develop an addiction to Vital, which isn't a bad thing. It's Serum-like, for free!

It will also teach you how to "fake" FM/PM synthesis in any synths that have oscillators that can agitate its other oscillators. Both the Novation Peak/Summit and the ASM HydraSynth, for example, have this ability, which is difficult to grasp on their hardware, but easy to comprehend once you've learnt to do in Vital.

added update: JUST FOUND, and can't recommend enough: Irish accented super cool vid intro to FM (PM) in Vital:

https://youtu.be/Z9tK3i53ENQ

---------------

Some very general thoughts on FM as it is in MODX:

FM-X sounds respond very well to (Need!!) Reverbs. For fun, if you find a scratchy FM-X preset, add two reverbs in its Part effects, first one short and smeary, second one longer and fuller, and then push them both out to the Master reverb, and make that as long and full as you can. You'll get huge ethereal sounds this way, that can be fun and dynamic with filter cutoff moves.

You must often add a Filter. A lot of FM presets don't have one (set to Thru). So if you reach for the cutoff and it does nothing, this is the first thing to look for. FM tends to sound better/like bass to mid better. Or bells. Or truly wicked sounding guitars. Distortion effects on FM sounds are amazing. Whole world's of fun. Or surreal evolving future pads. Or hard edged, dynamic future sounds.

FM is HIGHLY responsive to pitch and velocity. Too much so. You'll have to learn to use just some of the range for each FM sound you like (its sweet spot) and/or learn to corral FM, which is a lot of work, but possible. This is the odd boxes that tend to have -Linear in them with strange numbers and notes above them. Learning to use these boxes is invaluable for extending the useful pitch range of FM sounds you might like.

FM-X sounds don't tend to play well with Chorus effects. It's not you, it's them. If this is the case, but you want it fuller, consider making more FM parts and manually chorusing by bits of detuning, and manually pan splitting this way, too. Gets better results you can explore creatively with Motion, more, too. FM-X parts are true Polyphony count Per Part (whereas AWM2 is per element) so don't be afraid to use up FM parts by adding more of them and doing this.

Forget about FM-X Morphing. I've not found nor seen a good use for this.

Start with one carrier and no modulator. Just see what the raw carriers (without modulation) do. There are different spectral forms and each has a sound in the raw.

Then add the modulator. Now you are only dealing with two operators (2 op stack). One modulator feeding into one carrier. Understand how you can pick one of many (but not all) algorithms to do this.

Look up how to create a square wave in FM. And how to create a saw. Etc. These kind of "plug and play" (paint by the numbers) exercises are good training wheels. There should be MODX/Montage centric videos for these in tutorials.

There may be jargon you don't understand. Understand it so you know what these basic building blocks are. There are already pointers to material given previously. Of course there are a ton of others and other threads where a similar question was asked and discussed. You can go looking for those or just start exploring the tutorials and your own keyboard.

It's not all that deep once you narrow your scope. Don't worry about changing from default envelopes, adding effects, or any of that in the beginning. I get that a big plus for FM-X is the fact that it has effects available (earlier FM you had to create the "effects" with more FM-only programming). I guess adding reverb is easy enough if you can't stand what you're creating and think it's better. However, for "learning" FM - anything you do with effects is going to take the eye off the ball - so to speak.

At first, after orientation (what's a this, what's a that), it's going to be about level, frequency (ratio), and feedback. Don't worry about fixed freq mode right off.

The sandbox can be very small starting out.

@Jason

With all due respect, FM-X = FM ++ FX ++++ Motion

That's on the MODX, it's more like ++++++++ Motion on Montage

Yamaha FM is largely a known commodity. A couple of hours of DX-7 iteration youtube vids and soundcloud listens and you've heard most of what's possible with Yamaha FM.

But those FX added to each FM voice, they change the game, massively, especially because they're dynamically controllable, onboard, by design.

And it's those FX as inserts to each FM part that are the BIG feature of FM-X. Hence the name, I think.

So understanding FM-X's potential is far more than 50% understanding the Yamaha FX and their interplay with the relatively dry, known and dull to belly nature Yamaha FM, plus some odd and even extensions to resonance/harmonics from the Operators whose (if we're being transparent) really only shine when their additions reach the FX sections, wherein the FX transform them into useful additions for newish FM sounds.

@Bassam try the WaveFolder effect, a lot.

It's not particularly intuitive, but it's fantastic!!!

For some reason this recent (two+ years ago) addition got a bit overlooked. It is seemingly purpose built to add wonderful saturation to FM. It, alone, is reason to keep exploring FM on the MODX.

Thanks all for your input. That's very helpful with all those details and suggestions. I started reading yesterday the first link provided by Dragos. Although I said I am not looking for an "Intro", but it is nice to go through the history and a refresher from Yamaha!

I will update my reply by the end of the week to talk a bit about the path I took from the suggestions above (Thumbs Up for each single one) and progress I made.

Cheers

Sorry. I totally forgot about this vid, which is a must see, if just for the gear lust it will create, and how it shows the decline in UI.

But mostly because it gives the best possible insight into the base dry sounds of DX style FM without having to spend days wondering why it's that limited... folks loved this "modelling" and it became a thing because the edgier sounds were sufficiently different to create the other half of 80's sounds AND it did this kind of flexible "modelling":

https://youtu.be/1-boGIxRZ_s

The first half of 80's sounds being analogue subtractive synths, drenched in chorus, delays and reverb, which Modular perfects.

Quick Update before this gets too old...

[quotePost id=116478]Start here:
https://www.yamahasynth.com/learn/synth-programming/fm-101-article-series [/quotePost]

I started there, and did only this lesson (yes, life is busy lol), but it was enough to make me like FM and decide to keep going...
I thought it will be super hard to grasp from one tutorial, but not really. One trick I found is that FM is about filling those overtones that makes the sounds timbre you want.

When I play keyboard, the sounds I am interested in the most are Acoustic Instruments Sounds, and I thought FM is far from emulating those! But to be clear, I am not after "Realism" but more after "Instruments Sounds with a Synthy Tweak" and I found that FM works well in this area!

One article I found and went through is the following, it is very well written, very interesting, and will indeed increase your FM Knowledge from the Mathematics/Physics point of view without going into equations and stuff. Just read the first couple pages and you can decide if you will continue.

http://www.javelinart.com/FM_Synthesis_of_Real_Instruments.pdf

I will keep refering to this post and take into considerations your suggestions to continue my FM Learning Journey! Thanks again, really appreciate all the support!