Our Voices: Vocal Fry

As actors, it is important for us to understand our voices, our range, and what we can and can't alter if necessary for a role. There has been a lot of criticism of vocal fry in the media this year, all of it directed towards women. All of it. Vocal fry is a vocal phenomenon that is not limited to women, and it isn't necessarily a bad thing.

In Episode 545 of This American Life, "If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say, SAY IT IN ALL CAPS", Act II- Freedom Fries - discusses vocal fry and everyone's sudden obsession with complaining about it. I highly recommend listening to it. It's worth noting that Ira Glass speaks with vocal fry. Honestly, it's only annoying if you're looking for it because then you notice every time. If you're not listening for it, it just becomes one facet of many that make up a person's unique voice. The biggest problem is that when you make the decision to actively listen for vocal fry, you're not listening to what the person in question is actually saying. Cartoonist Sophie Goldstein explains this beautifully in her comic Girl Talk.

I occasionally speak with mild vocal fry as part of my natural voice patterns when I am in casual situations; it depends on what is going on with my voice on any given day. My natural voice changes -sometimes dramatically- depending on my stress levels, how much I have been talking that day, the vocal tendencies of those around me (I tend to unconsciously pick up other people's accents in casual conversation), how hydrated I am- the list goes on. However, because I know my voice and have a fairly good ear, I can easily make a conscious decision to speak in a specific way if the situation calls for it. In fact, I play with different accents and speech patterns frequently, just for fun. I think vocal fry can be interesting, just another vocal quirk, and as long as you are not putting excessive stress on  your vocal chords then I say it is just another option for character voices.