What Makes a Voice Creak
At the bottom of its range, the voice can stop sounding like a smooth musical note and begin to pulse in uneven little bursts. This is vocal fry, also called creaky voice. It happens when the vocal folds—the two bands of tissue in the voice box—are relatively slack and vibrate slowly, producing a low, irregular sound.
Why the Sound Changes
For ordinary speech, air from the lungs sets the vocal folds vibrating in a fairly regular pattern. When the folds are loose and the vibration rate falls, each pulse becomes more distinct; instead of blending into a clear tone, the pulses can sound like separate clicks or crackles. The voice’s pitch is low, but the texture is what makes it seem creaky.
Because fry occurs at the low end of a person’s vocal range, it can appear naturally at the end of a sentence, when the voice settles downward. It does not necessarily mean the speaker is forcing the voice or running out of breath. The sound may be conspicuous even when producing it takes little effort.
A Voice’s Lowest Gear
Vocal fry is one way the voice can operate near its lower limit, rather than a separate kind of voice. That distinction explains the apparent paradox: the register is low, while the sound is rough. A low note can be steady; fry is low because the folds vibrate slowly, and creaky because those vibrations are irregular.
