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Originally posted by learn2turn

I'm a novice playing a reasonable student instrument. I notice on C and C# on the G strings, either I don't get those notes to ring, like my bow is slipping because I'm sloppy, or I get the bow to grip and they come on too loud, almost like a honk. Being a novice, I have to assume it's mostly me and not the instrument but it just seems to me that those notes on that string don't have a happy middle in volume.  Now if I'm super careful, like get ready a C is coming and on that one note very carefully bow with less force then the adjacent notes I can get it to a volume that blends with the other notes.

Anyone have an explanation and tips for correcting?  Is this something you have to learn with each instrument, how each note behaves?

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Could be a wolf. You will either get used to it and compensate for it, or decide your student instrument isn't that reasonable.

I did look up wolf-tone. It doesn't warble at all. It's just C and C# on the G are louder. Can it be a wolf if it's just louder? It does sound like a resonance.

Try tucking your arm in under the fiddle a bit more so you can get up onto the tips of your fingers a bit more.

Play it softer then 

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Originally posted by pete_fiddle

Play it softer then 

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Yeah, well that sort of is my workaround.  Let's say I want a phrase to come out at volume 7 out of 10.  I bow all the notes except C at 7 and I have to remember to carefully bow the C at 5.  And then it's harder to get a consitent value than all the other notes.

Weave some stiff yarn thru your strings South of the bridge. Slide the 'afterlength mute' back and forth on the strings. Testing in different locations. Does it help?
I've seen some incorporate wire mutes behind the bridge for wolf tones. I've only messed with one fiddle that had a wolf zone. it was quite old and dry. And the strings were almost rusty.

This sounds nothing like a wolf, where an unwanted frequency competes with the fundamental and causes a howl.

It’s not all that uncommon to find a note that just seems to have an extra resonance on a violin. There’s a theory that some notes that match the body’s resonance or that of its internal air volume will naturally be promoted. Whatever the case, sometimes a note just seems to come out more. It can be the result of the playing, the setup, or the instrument itself.

If you have a professional setup by someone who really understands setup and violin sound (not something you find easily), it’s less likely to be a setup issue. You can check this by having the soundpost adjusted. A violin should be balanced throughout its registers as much as the instrument itself will allow. You don’t really want it to sound too punchy unintentionally.

If a string is especially loud, it's often the result of a soundpost out of adjustment that makes the fiddle unbalanced.  

It’s more common to have notes that are octaves from open strings sound extra powerful, as they can evoke a sympathetic vibration. Some violins are powerful enough that they’ll make other violins start ringing if they’re sitting on a table.

As a beginning player, I’d probably focus on technique first. Is there something different happening when you play the C (different amount of finger pressure, more solid contact, more precise intonation, etc.)? Is the bow path the same on the string all the time or is it straight for some notes and oblique for others? If you can eliminate the playing issues from the checklist, then you can start checking the setup. There are all kinds of adjustments that can be made to shift resonances around.