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For example, if you hit a C it plays
C D# and D F one octave up.

is there a special name for this unique chord structure?

C & D# suggests that it is a C minor variant.
In total we have C, D, D#, and F.

That is the first four notes of the C Melodic Minor scale.

so C is the tonic, D# is the third, D can be taken to be the 9th (or 2nd), and F is either an 11th or 4th (seeing as it is in the upper octave we'll call it the 11th)

resulting in: 1, 3, 9, 11.

It is only lacking the 5th and 7th, which are merely parallel fifths of 1 and 3 so can be discounted. So I'd call it a minor 11th:

C minor 11th


The lesson here is that you don't necessarily need all the notes to make the chord. Equally you could drop those last two down an octave so they fit in nicely into a series of four tones within the same octave and it'd still be a minor 11th.

Having said that, I'd like to go now and see what the chord recognition on my Karma has to say about it.


What synthesizer is this on by the way?

X-Trade wrote:C & D# suggests that it is a C minor variant.
In total we have C, D, D#, and F.

That is the first four notes of the C Melodic Minor scale.

so C is the tonic, D# is the third, D can be taken to be the 9th (or 2nd), and F is either an 11th or 4th (seeing as it is in the upper octave we'll call it the 11th)

resulting in: 1, 3, 9, 11.

It is only lacking the 5th and 7th, which are merely parallel fifths of 1 and 3 so can be discounted. So I'd call it a minor 11th:

C minor 11th


The lesson here is that you don't necessarily need all the notes to make the chord. Equally you could drop those last two down an octave so they fit in nicely into a series of four tones within the same octave and it'd still be a minor 11th.

Having said that, I'd like to go now and see what the chord recognition on my Karma has to say about it.


What synthesizer is this on by the way?

Korg R3, patch I1- Chord Hit. Let's pretend we're hitting a C. The first timbre is 9 semitones down, so our first osc is a D#. The second osc is 14 tones up from the 9 down, effectively making it an F, 5 up from our root. It's slightly softer than the D#.

Second timbre is an octave (12 semitones) down, so our first osc is a C an octave down from the C we hit. The second osc is again 14 semitones up, but this time that makes it a D. Again, it's slightly softer than the first osc.

Both timbres have equal volume.

So effectively, the chords are in order of
C D# D F by pitch,
and
D=F C=D# by volume.

I guess this puts an emphasis on the minor structure since the root and minor third are the strongest pitches heard.

Edit: as for dropping down the last two so they're all in the same octave, it makes the sound too crowded in that frequency range, at least when all four are the same volume, so the sound sounds very mushy. Then again, I've only tested this on other sounds and my piano, maybe if they were in the same octave but the D and F slightly softer it'd be fine.

I didn't say it would sound good if you put them in the same octave!

My point was that it would technically still be the same chord.

The Karma calls it "Cm9/11", which more or less confirms what I said before. I'm far from an expert on chord structure though, but its just a simple bit of maths really.

It's working around a diminished structure I think - I guess it's part of a progression which only makes sense in context - as a chord in it's own right, it doesnt.

It's probably going towards C minor (assuming C is the tonic and you're not playing around with cadences, like Neopolitan 6ths) - it has to go somewhere to resolve - which indicates the dominant; G. It resolves itself there but hasn't gone all the way - it needs then to return to the tonic, C.

But it could be that G minor is the key (but with diminished 7th - F) with an augmented 5th (d#) and suspended 4th (C). It still has to resolve - but goes G diminished, to suspension, resolves to G minor but needs more - so then drops to dominant (D suspension with dominant 7th to major) to resolve back to G minor.

Either way this chord is part of a progression! There are others too, but then my post is going to get very, very boring...

Edited to say - on reflection the chord you describe could be part of several keys - F major, G minor, B flat major, C major, A minor, D minor... Without knowing the chord before it and after it, it's difficult to say what device is being used so can't give it the proper name!