{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.wolf","code":"thing-q996490","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q996490/","name":"wolf","alternateNames":[],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"thing","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.QTY"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"In music, a harshly dissonant interval, especially the wolf fifth, that arises in tuning systems such as Pythagorean and meantone temperament when the twelve fifths of the circle do not close, leaving one fifth noticeably narrow or wide and producing beating that resembles howling, and by extension any interval or key that sounds out of tune in a given temperament; the wolf fifth motivated the development of well temperaments and equal temperament, and the name also applies to unwanted resonances in string instruments called wolf tones.","purpose":"Let an agent explain the wolf interval in tuning theory, relay its size in different temperaments and its historical role from music theory references, describe wolf tones on instruments, and distinguish the musical sense from the animal.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Unclosed circle of fifths","Comma accumulation","Temperament dependent","Historical driver of tuning reform"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What the wolf interval is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is the wolf fifth, and why does it arise when twelve fifths do not close the circle?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about the tuning interval, wolf tones on instruments or the animal?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"sizes","name":"Sizes","description":"Sizes by temperament.","findings":[{"id":"sizes-finding","name":"Sizes","description":"Sizes.","questions":[{"text":"How large is the wolf in Pythagorean, meantone and other tunings?","kind":"measurement"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific temperament?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","layers":[{"id":"temperaments","name":"Temperaments","description":"Temperament history.","findings":[{"id":"temperaments-finding","name":"Temperaments","description":"Temperaments.","questions":[{"text":"How did the wolf drive the move to well temperaments and equal temperament?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"practice","name":"Practice","description":"Historical practice.","findings":[{"id":"practice-finding","name":"Practice","description":"Practice.","questions":[{"text":"How did keyboard players and composers avoid or exploit the wolf?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"instruments","name":"Instruments","description":"Wolf tones.","layers":[{"id":"wolftone","name":"Wolf tone","description":"Wolf tones.","findings":[{"id":"wolftone-finding","name":"Wolf tone","description":"Wolf tone.","questions":[{"text":"What causes wolf tones on cellos and violins, and how are they suppressed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits wolf tone?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"acoustics","name":"Acoustics","description":"Acoustics.","findings":[{"id":"acoustics-finding","name":"Acoustics","description":"Acoustics.","questions":[{"text":"How do beating and dissonance explain the howling sound?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits consonance and dissonance?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"context","name":"Context","description":"Today and culture.","layers":[{"id":"today","name":"Today","description":"Today.","findings":[{"id":"today-finding","name":"Today","description":"Today.","questions":[{"text":"How do historically informed performers and electronic tuners handle the wolf today?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits historically informed performance?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"culture","name":"Culture","description":"Culture.","findings":[{"id":"culture-finding","name":"Culture","description":"Culture.","questions":[{"text":"How has the wolf fifth been described in music writing and lore?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits music theory?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain the wolf interval and why it arises in tuning systems.","Compute interval sizes and show where the wolf falls in a given temperament."],"mustNot":["Confuse the musical wolf interval with the animal or with a wolf tone on string instruments.","Retune an instrument it does not own or has not been asked to tune.","Present one temperament as the only correct way to tune."],"requiresHuman":["Retuning a historic or shared instrument, such as a church organ."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Historic instruments and tunings are cultural heritage worth keeping accurately.","Musicians deserve accurate explanations of the tuning choices they inherit."],"affectedParties":["Musicians","Owners of historic instruments"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns the concept; it is held in common by musicians.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q224169","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"fifth","type":"related","note":"in registry terms, a badly tuned one"},{"target":"meantone temperament","type":"related","note":"and Pythagorean tuning"},{"target":"Pythagorean comma","type":"related","note":"accumulation"},{"target":"equal temperament","type":"related","note":"spreading the comma"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.wolf","Wikidata: Q996490 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q996490)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":["Pythagorean wolf fifth: about 678 cents - versus 702 pure","quarter-comma meantone wolf: about 737 cents","Pythagorean comma: about 23.5 cents"]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Dissonant fifth from an unclosed tuning circle","Wolf fifth in Pythagorean and meantone tuning; wolf tones on strings","The animal wolf is unrelated; equal temperament has no wolf","Not a visible object; a howling dissonance."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain the interval","relay sizes by temperament","describe historical role","distinguish from wolf tones and the animal"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Confusing the interval with wolf tones on instruments","Confusing with the animal","Misstating sizes across temperaments"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["No regulation; tuning conventions of historical performance"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Not applicable; a tuning phenomenon.","Pythagorean wolf fifth","meantone wolf fifth","wolf intervals in other tunings","wolf tones on cellos and other string instruments as a related acoustic phenomenon"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q996490: wolf","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q996490","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Wolf interval","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_interval","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should wolf tone be a separate entry?","How should music theory references be linked?","How should the registry parent fifth be qualified?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q996490/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q996490/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-13T03:18:30Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:52:03+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}