Creaky voice (also called laryngealisation, pulse phonation or, in singing, vocal fry or glottal fry), is a special kind of phonation in which the arytenoid cartilages in the larynx are drawn together; as a result, the vocal folds are compressed rather tightly, becoming relatively slack and compact, and forming a large, irregularly vibrating mass. The frequency of the vibration is very low (20–50 pulses per second, about two octaves below normal voice) and the airflow through the glottis is very slow. A slight degree of laryngealisation, occurring e.g. in some Korean consonants is called "stiff voice". Harry Belafonte singing, photograph by C. van Vechten Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, which is often contrasted with speech. ... In phonetics, phonation is the use of the laryngeal system to generate an audible source of acoustic energy, i. ... The arytenoid cartilages are a pair of small pyramid-shaped cartilages, at the upper rear of the larynx, to which the vocal cords are attached. ... The larynx (plural larynges), colloquially known as the voicebox, is an organ in the neck of mammals involved in protection of the trachea and sound production. ... // Bold textItalic text The vocal folds, also known popularly as vocal cords, are composed of twin infoldings of mucous membrane stretched horizontally across the larynx. ... The space between the vocal cords is called the glottis. ... The term stiff voice describes the pronunciation of consonants with a glottal opening narrower, and the vocal cords stiffer, than what occurs in normal (modal) voice. ...

There is some argument among music instructors as to whether or not this is an actual register as it can be used to add a raspy sound to other registers. By putting a lesser amount of air on the cords than is needed for a clear tone of the pitch you are going for, the tone breaks up and becomes a rasp. Many Nu Metal singers use this technique to create a screaming sound. One example is Chester Bennington of Linkin Park. Yeah Yeah Yeahs' singer Karen O also utilizes the technique in songs like "Rich" and "Art Star". Nu metal (also called aggro metal, or nü metal using the traditional heavy metal umlaut) is a musical genre that has origins in the mid 1990s. ... Chester Charles Bennington (born March 20, 1976)[1] is an American vocalist. ... Linkin Park is a nu-metal band from Agoura Hills, California. ... Yeah Yeah Yeahs are a Grammy Award nominated New York City-based rock band. ... Karen Lee Orzołek, better known as Karen O (born November 22, 1978 in South Korea), is the lead vocalist for the New York art punk band Yeah Yeah Yeahs. ...

The Danish prosodic feature stød is an example of a form of laryngealisation that has a phonemic function. In linguistics, prosody refers to intonation, rhythm, and vocal stress in speech. ... A map showing the distribution of the stød in Danish dialects. ... In human language, a phoneme is the theoretical representation of a sound. ...

Creaky voice manifests itself in the idiolects of some American English speakers, particularly at the beginnings of sentences that the speaker wishes to "soft-pedal". Although this phenomenon is in general more prominent among female American English speakers than among male speakers, it is frequently adopted by older males in leadership positions in business and politics. An idiolect is a variety of a language unique to an individual. ... For other uses, see American English (disambiguation). ...

It can also occur accidentally when the speaker's throat is tired, or if the speaker is sick, and tries to reach very high notes.

See also

• Breathy voice
• Glottal stop
• Slack voice
• Harsh voice