Creaky voice (also called laryngealisation or vocal fry, especially in the US), 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) 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".
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". The "eh" of "Eh, I don't know about that." is frequently pronounced in creaky voice. This phenomenon is more prominent among female American English speakers than among male speakers.
For example, when speaking of the vocal range of a male opera singer, one usually excludes falsetto pitches, which are not used in most opera.
In opera, two considerations are paramount in determining vocal range: consistency of timbre across the vocal range, and ability to project the pitches (that is, to be heard clearly over an orchestra without amplification).
Vocal range for women is only slightly more freely determined: The same criteria broadly apply, but women of the highest voice type (soprano) can on occasion deploy their flageolet register to reach very high notes despite a typically noticeable difference in timbre.
Vocal fold bowing: A descriptive term referring to the appearance of vocal folds that are somewhat atrophied, often with some concomitant flaccidity.
Vocalfry may be heard in poorly produced voices; in other cases, it is used intentionally as a training technique, particularly for air-wasting dysphonia that has a functional cause.
Vocal limitations may not be understood by clinicians who: (1) do not have a complete understanding of normal capabilities, often derived through thorough knowledge of singing voice capabilities; (2) can’t or don’t elicit a complete vocal capability battery, with necessary modeling of various vocal tasks, particularly at the extremes of vocal capability.
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