Wolves at the door...

In the last tuning list Gary Morrison included:

> Dan Wolf was, I think, insightful to point out that historically, "wolf"
>has been used to describe far more divergent effects, like a note on an
>instrument that, just by the acoustomechanics of the instrument itself,
>tends to "stick out". I've even heard some violinists describe the open E
>string on a "wolf".

My wife is a professional cellist, and occasionally has had wolves attack
her instrument. Variables include different brands or styles of strings,
changes in the bridge and (horror!) new changes within the instrument, such
as a seam starting to open or possible cracks developing.

To these players, the wolf is usually manifest as a note the *almost*
disappears; I would imagine something in the makeup of a particular string
finds an equal harmonic resonance in the body of the instrument, and some
sort of phase cancellation occurs, causing the note to become very much
softer than surrounding pitches. There are numerous remedies, often times
known as "wolf catchers", to affect the situation (beyond trying different
strings); my wife has a small 'weight' device that attaches to the string
between the bridge and the tailpiece, altering mass (my guess). Other
repair people install, on the exterior of the instrument, a small weight
that is placed in a (seeming) nodal point on the body, negating the
resonance and allowing the note to speak more clearly.

On the other hand, string repair people are some of the few left practicing
the 'black arts' - they never do repair in front of you, always taking the
instrument into the "back room", emitting "hmmmm, ahhhhh,....hmmmm" sounds.
The bill goes up...

Cheers,
Jon
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Jonathan M. Szanto | A hobo, in cyberspace, no less . . . . . . .
Corporeal Meadows | . . . . . . . . Partch awaits in the Meadows
jszanto@adnc.com | http://www.adnc.com/web/jszanto/welcome.html
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Date: Mon, 9 Dec 1996 17:04:01 -0800
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