Ricardo -> RE: What causes wolf tones? (Apr. 6 2007 16:34:39)
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I think, according to Ramirez book which covers this in detail, it is a bit of a mistery what causes wolf notes. As described, I have never noticed them on ANY guitar I have ever played, but I could be playing through them unknowingly. They are weaker notes than all the rest if played with equal force. Segovia complained about them getting worse on his Hauser, and had to cut some pieces out of his repertoire because the weak note ended up being one he wanted "brought out". I have notice in live settings with microphone when some notes are weak or too strong, but that is not the same as "wolf notes" I think. Anyway, Ramirez talks about how this is weird but common problem in old violins and cellos etc, they tried to fix by vibrating the top with metal filings on the wood. The metal fillings would gather up in areas not vibrating strong enough. So the luthier would file that spot to thin the wood. The player would play the violin and the wolf note would disappear for a while. Then unexplainably the weak note comes back, even weaker than before. Essentially, fixing the instrument made it worse, or ruined. So Ramirez did not even try that to fix the problem Segovia had. Instead he studies spherical acoustics and designed a fin of wood, with the body shape cut out smaller inside the guitar, and this supposedly fixed the problem. His designed is patented so no other maker can use it. The instrument is called "De Camara" guitar, and has been around since 1985 I think. Like I said, I never noticed these wolf notes so hard to say if I would notice the supposed improvement this guitar has. Ricardo
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