Vocal Frys, Growls & Rattles

Lisa Popeil

Any rock singer worth his salt should be able to make some fairly scary sounds as part of a day’s work. But vocal frys, growls, rattles, creaky voices and death grunts can even add to the toolkit of singers of other styles as well just to spice up the pot and express the more extreme emotions of human life.            

The jury is still out on the long-term safety of extreme vocal sounds, but several contemporary voice teachers who specialize in this area, namely Cathrine Sadolin from Denmark and Melissa Cross from New York City believe that they can done safely.  There seem to be two categories of extreme sounds: fry-based and growl-based.  Fry-based are the most comfortable to make and seem to cause the least amount of hoarseness.  To play with fry, make a low soft sound and blow just enough air through your vocal cords to create a steady ‘popcorn popping’ sound.  In high-speed photography, the cords show an alternate pattern of vibration from normal.  Seen in slow-motion, they close for two counts,  then open for one count. Try to raise the pitch on your vocal fry keeping your throat wide.  Once you stop, relax and see if you notice any feelings in your vocal cord area.  If you’re sensitive, you should notice a different feeling that before you started and it’s not a better feeling. You can also slide up on a low fry, which I call a ‘fry slide’. 

The next one to try is the ‘creaky voice’, the accepted term for vocal fry on a high pitch with constricted throat.  In this one, you squeeze your throat (don’t squeeze your vocal cords) and should hear a loud distorted sound.  This sound engages your ‘pharyngeal constrictors’, them muscles we use to swallow.  Now relax and see how the area feels.  Vocal frys are two extreme sounds which cause the least hoarseness and still can sound nasty and expressive.          

Now we come to the growls of which there are a lot to choose from.  Try several short, soft, low-pitched growls like a really soft dog growl, all the while feeling air coming through your vocal cords.  Now relax and see how your cords feel.  You should feel less in your throat and more in your cords compared to the vocal frys.  If you’re not sensitive, you may feel nothing at all.           

For the most complex growls, we begin putting more tissue into vibration: the true folds, the false folds, the aryepiglottic folds, the arytenoid cartilages, the epiglottis, even the uvula and the soft palate.  For you science types, let me explain in more detail - above the true folds (correct name for the vocal cords) lie two flaps called the false folds. They look like vocal cords but are not thought to play an important part in voice production, instead the false folds work more when we swallow.  Vocal folds lie within a tube of tissue and the loose part of the tissue at the top of the tube is called the ‘aryepiglottic folds’.  (Say that word out loud and you’ll feel smarter, I promise).  When you vibrate your true folds, your false folds and your aryepiglottic folds, your growl gets more complex.

But wait, there’s more! You call also add your epiglottis, which I call the ‘toilet seat’ of the voice-box.  It’s a big leaf-shaped cartilage which clunks down over the voice-box every time you swallow. It can vibrate too. Some growlers like to add the uvula into the fray. That’s the little drop of tissue hanging off your soft palate.  When I vibrate the uvula, it just sounds like I’m gargling, but some people sound cool when they add it to their growls.

I can count at least six different frys/growls and the more you play, the more sounds you can discover.  Lowering or raising your larynx can change the sound a lot.  My advice, if you’re interested in playing around with extreme sounds is to proceed carefully.  Think soft, short, with good posture, chest up, and strong upper belly support (firming OUT, not in).  Then try adding more throat tissue into your growls, but always carefully.  Personally, I don’t do use growls often. They’re like cayenne pepper-it can spice up your dish or can cause pain.  We only have so much time daily on our vocal clock and growls will give you less time on your clock. If you sound more hoarse after one growl or one song, minimize their use. Stay in touch with how your cords feel and proceed with caution when using these exciting, extreme vocal sounds.