Hi Wolf tones such as the one you have are common on cellos. Many people ( myself included) have had success with the New Harmony solid brass eliminators that slip onto the string between the bridge and tailpiece. They are available in diffferent weights ranging from 3g to 13g. If you get them from ellen at cellos2go.com she will send you the ones you want to try and you can return the unused ones. They cost around $16 each.

Placing a wolf eliminator is a trial and error matter. Contrary to popular mythology you should actually start on the C string about 1/4" to 1/2" from the bridge and then slowly try moving the eliminator in small steps towards the tailpiece, testing the wolf as you go.

If the C string does not lead to any position that eliminates the wolf, then try the G string repeating the technique.

With the New Harmony eliminators, start with a high weight until you find the best position and then reduce the weight until you get an optimal effect.

Regarding your "vibration" in 4th position, that is a little vague. It could be your technique, the string hitting the fingerboard, a fine tuner vibration or a number of other things. Are you bowing closer to the tailpiece in 4th?? Do you have a teacher? If so what does he/she think it is?

Jim

I agree with Jim about the New Harmony eliminators. My experience is that they're very effective and don't cause the deadening that you've described. I bought mine from Chris at quinnviolins.com who also suggested that I order a selection and send back the ones that I don't need. I ordered the whole set and found that the 5 gram was heavy enough to take care of the problem on my cello. I kept the 5 and the 7 (just in case) and sent back the rest.

Don't get upset with your cello because of the wolf tone. It's really very common, especially around e/f/f# and is by no means an indication of quality. Take a look at the cellos that you see people performing on and you'll find that many of them have that little brass tube on a string below the bridge.

In addition to the wolf eliminator, which is really a necessity for controlling a wolf tone, there are other factors that can have an effect on how perceptible a wolf tone is, including the string tension on the bridge, the humidity, and the amount of pressure that you're applying to the string with your left hand. As a new cellist, you may not be applying enough pressure with your left hand. Too light a touch will accentuate an existing wolf. Don't overdo it, though! Lower tension strings can decrease the strength of a wolf tone, but not always; and anyway, different string cores, windings, and tensions can make so much of a difference to the sound of each individual cello, bow, and cellist that trying to decrease a wolf tone by changing strings can send you off on an extremely frustrating journey. But if you've recently changed strings to a different type or brand, that might be responsible for the increased strength of the wolf tone.

I think that the vibration that you've described is another manifestation of the same wolf tone, although I would expect it to be on the G string where you're playing the same notes as on the D string rather than on the C. In fact, there are many cellists who control the wolf by applying pressure with their knees when playing problem notes. You can play with that to hear the effect, but I wouldn't suggest it as an answer for a new cellist. You really don't want to get into the habit of doing anything that increases muscle tension anywhere unnecessarily. The cello shakes because of the changing intensity of the sound wave that results from multiple, out of sync sound waves being generated. At times those out of sync waves are complimentary and cause the resultant sound to be louder while at other times they subtract from each other (think of a speaker with one wave trying to pull the speaker in from its rest position and another trying to push it out) resulting in a lowered volume. The wave that results from all of that mess is very complex and creates the sound of the wolf tone and the vibration of the instrument.

Don