How do you explain "vocal fry"?
How do you explain, this deep, rising and falling, low grinding sort of "crackle" that people (particularly women)seem to have nowadays...especially when those who have it, seem to believe; "This is just the way I talk."?
It's sort of like listening to a phone call that is breaking up; the person's voice seems to "mute" or "skip" in and out, like listening to an old vinyl album amidst the scratches, scrapes and pops of the record grooves. A sentence will begin, with either a high pitch, or a smooth tone. Even individual words will have a high pitch or a smooth tone, but by the end of the syllables, or the end of the sentence...that same voice sounds as though there's no pitch at all. It's deep, and gravely, throaty...the syllables and sounds seem...burned out, or "fried" for lack of oxygen.
Remember that noise you made as a kid where you constricted your throat a little and then forced air to hit it? It was sort of like a long, vibrating "burp" that made your voice sound like some sort of...reptile? And your mom would go "Quit! Stop that, it's driving me nuts.". That's it. Imagine going all the time between some sort of high, "little girl" sounding pitch, and...that, and you have Vocal Fry. Listen to the Kardashian women for any length of time, and you'll hear it.
So, at this time, you may want to find some You-Tube videos because it's driving you nuts wondering what I'm talking about. But watch any current popular TV sitcom and you'll hear it. The trouble is, many people don't seem to hear it, especially, those who do it the most...because (I suppose), it just seems normal. But my question, is why?
I mean, remember the movie "Singin' in the Rain?" (Excuse yet another movie example, but it fits.). That actress who...sorta sounded like she swallowed helium, ya know? Anyway, this lovely British dialogue coach was brought in to help her to "Please remember dear, ROUND tones.". Not that it was to any avail, but the point is, much effort was made to try and refine her, because she was absolutely, a bubble-headed bleached blonde, whose irritating voice sounded like nails on a chalk board. No insults here, because the audience is SUPPOSED to believe this. Her character is completely exaggerated because we are supposed to get that her tone, pitch, and just her voice in general need major help. (Dear God, no one must know!) I'll come back to her hair color later. It was the same with "My Fair Lady," which, now that I think about it, is basically, "Taming of the Shrew.". Miss Eliza Doolittle is...refined, she is "softened"...she becomes an elegant..lady (hence the name of the story.). Anyway, the first thing to be changed (for the better) is Eliza's deep, throaty, gravely, voice, which in many cases was hard to understand...what? So, here we go, remember, it was...
"The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain."
(Eliza): "De rhine in spine stighs mine-ly in de pline."
Eliza was then instructed to recite this each night when she said her prayers because she would get a lot further with the Lord if she learned not to offend his ears. Now of course, this remark was sarcastic, and understanding that I mean NO disrespect to a cockney accent, I find it interesting that the gravely, rather "unkempt" sounds coming from Eliza's throat, the very ones that in her case, needed to be corrected...seem to be just the norm today.
Now for some actual life experience. When we speak normally our vocal cords need to be relaxed so that air can flow through, and the tone, or pitch of our voice can be heard. But this becomes much more apparent when someone sings. I began singing as a kid, and as I got older, I learned about deep breathing, relaxing the jaw and throat, correct posture, staying on pitch, and rounded tones. Everything must be relaxed and "opened up" inside so that air and sound can flow. If throat muscles are too tight or air is constricted, the "sound" of our voice is "shut off" or "muted". The word is still there...but it's pretty much as though someone is either smashing their larynx (voice box)or like they have a bad cold...are they holding their nose?? To put it simply...this is not normal. In truth, I've tried to imitate vocal fry before, and I can't do it without hurting my voice. The sounds are so deep and distorted, that it's as though someone is pressing against my throat with their tongue, squeezing my throat, and putting a weight on my chest. Ummm OUCH.
So, as far as the casual belief that "this is just the way I talk"; this really intrigues me because I don't see how this is possible. Vocal fry is simply not natural or normal. Folks have to make themselves sound that way when they speak. Think about it this way: when actor Christopher Reeve gave his first interview after his paralyzing horse riding accident, he said that in order to be able to speak, he had to wait for his ventilator to pump air over his vocal cords. This is why a lot of his speech would be slightly delayed...he was waiting for the oxygen. See where I'm goin' with this? So, my question is, why do we literally live each day "holding our breath" and constricting our ability to speak? (to the point that it's "normal" and we no longer realize we're doing it?)
I have two theories, and I'll just be very direct about them.
1. We're scared to death of emotion. The sounds or tone of one's voice, gives insight into how they feel. Could it be that we associate this with weakness? If a person is genuinely happy or excited, this will come through in their voice, generally, the pitch will be higher, more childlike...more relaxed and carefree, suggesting a VULNERABILITY about us that we apparently, have just allowed to escape. How could we let this happen?? We're human, that's how. The same thing goes for if we're afraid, or sad...if anyone sees us cry, it'd BETTER be for dramatic purposes that earn us attention, and seem to say "I meant to do that"!! Heaven forbid we should ever be genuinely emotional, without tight reins on every single reaction that say we are completely in control. Oh, yes, and sentimentality must be avoided at all costs...genuine caring seems to suggest that you're a huge whimp...but if you have a cutting remark for someone or you're angry...this is good. This keeps all other emotions suppressed and seems to give people power and control. Really, so if we're so in control and confident, how come some many of us seem to be cutting off our air supply, like we're scared to death?
2. We are better friends with computers than with real people. Remember the episode of Big Bang Theory when Raj got his IPhone, and he believed that an actual girl had begun a friendship with him...that she was speaking right to him? Now of course these were the "responses" that came programed into the phone...that even has "voice recognition.". Now of course, we balk at this and get a laugh...but is it really THAT far fetched?? GPS devices talk to us, ATM machines talk to us, computers talk to us...things that I don't even KNOW talk to us, talk to us. And there have been some wonderful efforts to make these voices sound as human as possible, but they are still...machines. Couple this with the fact that our vocabularies are becoming shorter through more and more acronyms for everything, and abbreviations through, texting and continued social media. Not only that, if I'm correct, kids are no longer taught spelling or phonics in school. Phonics is simply the way a word sounds when it's said. I've seen school papers which simply encourage kids to "spell a word the way they believe it SHOULD be spelled.". What? When I was in school, this was not allowed. Listen, the English language is probably the most difficult there is, because the "rules" of the language are broken and changed so many times. Even those with degrees in the subject who teach it to others, have difficulty with it. Now I'm only one person, but it would seem to me that with all of this considered...kids would need all the help they can get learning to speak and spell. Shoot, that used to be a TOY you could buy, remember?? Not anymore.
So it seems to me that many of us can no longer feel the sense of healthy pride that comes with knowing how to express ourselves clearly, eloquently, and with confidence. As a result, we no longer know how to do this. As a result it is now considered discrimination if we want to make sure someone has proper language skills (because what are they?). There was a time when this knowledge made someone a confident adult...but it would not appear so now...not anymore.
