Harmony of 23edo
If you take a look at the intervals of 23edo, you'll find that this system does not contain good representations of the harmonics 3, 5, 7, 11, or 13, which appear as central in most just intonation systems. Rather than trivialize 23edo by calling it "atonal" or "inharmonic", you should consider the higher-limit harmonies that could serve as useful sonorities, perhaps even 'consonances', in the context of careful composition. 23edo contains intervals which approach very well the harmonics 9, 17, 21, 23, 33, 35, 55, 79 & 117. Let's compare the cents values to see how close 23edo intervals come to these harmonics (and other intervals):
| Degrees | Armodue note | Cents sizes | Just interval | Cents | Error |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 1/1 | 0.000 | none |
| 1 | 1t (2b) | 52.174 | 33/32 | 53.273 | -1.099 |
| 2 | 2v (1#) | 104.348 | 17/16 | 104.955 | -0.607 |
| 3 | 2 | 156.522 | 35/32 | 155.140 | +1.382 |
| 4· | 2t (3b) | 208.696 | 9/8 | 203.910 | +4.786 |
| 5 | 3v (2#) | 260.869 | 50/43 | 261.110 | -0.241 |
| 6 | 3 | 313.043 | 6/5 | 315.641 | -2.598 |
| 7· | 3t (4b) | 365.217 | 79/64 | 364.537 | +0.68 |
| 8 | 4v (3#) | 417.391 | 14/11 | 417.508 | -0.117 |
| 9 | 4 (5v) | 469.565 | 21/16 | 470.781 | -1.216 |
| 10· | 5 (4t) | 521.739 | 23/17 | 523.319 | -1.58 |
| 11 | 5t (6b) | 573.913 | 32/23 | 571.726 | +2.187 |
| 12 | 6v (5#) | 626.087 | 23/16 | 628.274 | -2.187 |
| 13· | 6 | 678.261 | 34/23 | 676.681 | +1.58 |
| 14 | 6t (7b) | 730.435 | 32/21 | 729.219 | +1.216 |
| 15 | 7v (6#) | 782.609 | 11/7 | 782.492 | +0.117 |
| 16· | 7 | 834.783 | 34/21 | 834.175 | +0.608 |
| 17 | 7t (8b) | 886.957 | 5/3 | 884.359 | +2.598 |
| 18 | 8v (7#) | 939.130 | 55/32 | 937.632 | +1.498 |
| 19· | 8 | 991.304 | 39/22 | 991.165 | +0.139 |
| 20 | 8t (9b) | 1043.478 | 117/64 | 1044.438 | -0.96 |
| 21 | 9v (8#) | 1095.652 | 32/17 | 1095.045 | +0.607 |
| 22 | 9 (1v) | 1147.826 | 31/16 | 1145.036 | +2.791 |
| 23·· (or 0) | 1 (9t) | 1200.000 | 2/1 | 1200.000 | none |
You'll see that intervals of 23edo come within 5 cents of 9/8; 3 cents of 23/16 and 31/16; 2 cents of 33/32, 21/16, 35/32, & 55/32; & 1 cent of 17/16, 79/64, & 117/64. Due to the notable accuracy of 17/16, it also makes sense to treat the interval of 4 steps as 289/256 instead of 9/8, which has a distinct sound in spite of being only 6 cents sharper than 9/8. (<And let's also note the excellent representations of 14/11 and its inverse, 11/7!!! In fact they might be considered good enough that a chain of 23 such intervals would be a reasonable way to acoustically tune this temperament -- AKJ) Of course, it also has perfect unisons & octaves, by definition. This means we could potentially build a very strange (& slightly mistuned) harmonic chord which, reduced to within one octave, we could write as frequency ratios 64:66:68:70:72:79:84:92:110:117:124. I find this cluster a little hard to listen to, whether tuned to JI or 23edo, so I'd like to consider smaller chords, triads & tetrads, as a starting point.
I'd also like to set an arbitrary limit on how high up the harmonic series we will go. I'll set my limit at the 23rd harmonic. I'll consider harmonics 1, 9, 17, 21, & 23, excluding (at least for now) 33, 35, 55, 79, & 117. Those sonorities could no doubt prove useful to a thoughful composer, but for this study, I'll leave them out.
Thus we produce ten triads, five tetrads, & one pentad, 16 chords, which, with their inversions (given), doubles to 32 chords. I've written then in a closed position (within one octave), & I recommend trying different voicings. Moving chord tones up & down by octaves, you can unmuddy a muddy chord.
Triads
16:17:18, degrees 0, 2, 4 (inversion 0, 19, 21).
17/16 (104.955, error -0.607)
18/16 = 9/8 (203.910, error +4.786)
18/17 (98.955, error: +5.393)
16:17:21, degrees 0, 2, 9 (inversion 0, 14, 21).
17/16 (104.955, error -0.607)
21/16 (470.781, error -1.216)
21/17 (365.825, error: -0.608)
16:17:23, degrees 0, 2, 12 (inversion 0, 11, 21).
17/16 (104.955, error -0.607)
23/16 (628.274, error -2.187)
23/17 (523.319, error: -1.578)
16:18:21, degrees 0, 4, 9 (inversion 0, 14, 19).
18/16 = 9/8 (203.910, error +4.786)
21/16 (470.781, error -1.216)
21/18 = 7/6 (266.871, error: -6.001)
16:18:23, degrees 0, 4, 12 (inversion 0, 11, 19).
18/16 = 9/8 (203.910, error +4.786)
23/16 (628.274, error -2.187)
23/18 (424.364, error: -6.973)
16:21:23, degrees 0, 9, 12 (inversion 0, 11, 14).
21/16 (470.781, error -1.216)
23/16 (628.274, error -2.187)
23/21 (157.493, error: -0.971)
17:18:21, degrees 0, 2, 7 (inversion 0, 16, 21).
18/17 (98.955, error: +5.393)
21/17 (365.825, error: -0.608)
21/18 = 7/6 (266.871, error: -6.001)
17:18:23, degrees 0, 2, 10 (inversion 0, 13, 21).
18/17 (98.955, error: +5.393)
23/17 (523.319, error: -1.578)
23/18 (424.364, error: -6.973)
17:21:23, degrees 0, 7, 10 (inversion 0, 13, 16).
21/17 (365.825, error: -0.608)
23/17 (523.319, error: -1.578)
23/21 (157.493, error: -0.971)
18:21:23, degrees 0, 5, 8 (inversion 0, 15, 18).
21/18 = 7/6 (266.871, error: -6.001)
23/18 (424.364, error: -6.973)
23/21 (157.493, error: -0.971)
Tetrads
16:17:18:21, degrees 0, 2, 4, 9 (inversion 0, 14, 19, 21).
17/16 (104.955, error -0.607)
18/16 = 9/8 (203.910, error +4.786)
21/16 (470.781, error -1.216)
18/17 (98.955, error: +5.393)
21/17 (365.825, error: -0.608)
21/18 = 7/6 (266.871, error: -6.001)
16:17:18:23, degrees 0, 2, 4, 12 (inversion 0, 11 19, 21).
17/16 (104.955, error -0.607)
18/16 = 9/8 (203.910, error +4.786)
23/16 (628.274, error -2.187)
18/17 (98.955, error: +5.393)
23/17 (523.319, error: -1.578)
23/18 (424.364, error: -6.973)
16:17:21:23, degrees 0, 2, 9, 12 (inversion 0, 11, 14, 21).
17/16 (104.955, error -0.607)
21/16 (470.781, error -1.216)
23/16 (628.274, error -2.187)
21/17 (365.825, error: -0.608)
23/17 (523.319, error: -1.578)
23/21 (157.493, error: -0.971)
16:18:21:23, degrees 0, 4, 9, 12 (inversion 0, 11, 14, 19).
18/16 = 9/8 (203.910, error +4.786)
21/16 (470.781, error -1.216)
23/16 (628.274, error -2.187)
21/18 = 7/6 (266.871, error: -6.001)
23/18 (424.364, error: -6.973)
23/21 (157.493, error: -0.971)
17:18:21:23, degrees 0, 2, 7, 10 (inversion 0, 13, 16, 21).
18/17 (98.955, error: +5.393)
21/17 (365.825, error: -0.608)
23/17 (523.319, error: -1.578)
21/18 = 7/6 (266.871, error: -6.001)
23/18 (424.364, error: -6.973)
23/21 (157.493, error: -0.971)
Pentads
16:17:18:21:23, degrees 0, 2, 4, 9, 12 (inversion 0, 11, 14, 19, 21).
17/16 (104.955, error -0.607)
18/16 = 9/8 (203.910, error +4.786)
21/16 (470.781, error -1.216)
23/16 (628.274, error -2.187)
18/17 (98.955, error: +5.393)
21/17 (365.825, error: -0.608)
23/17 (523.319, error: -1.578)
21/18 = 7/6 (266.871, error: -6.001)
23/18 (424.364, error: -6.973)
23/21 (157.493, error: -0.971)