On wolf tones in string instruments
Is fine violin flawed if it has a wolf? Cellists and bassists are all too familiar with something known as a wolf tone. This treacherous acoustic phenomenon occurs most frequently in larger stringed instruments: violinists do not encounter the problem nearly as much. Musicians whose instruments have a wolf tone learn very quickly where it is, and they intuitively develop avoidance strategies: whenever possible they try not to use the note in question, play with uncertainty or become sloppy in their intonation in an effort to work around the wolf.
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