Continuous Vocal Fry Simulated in Laboratory Subjects: A Preliminary Report on Voice Production and Listener Ratings

Vocal fry is prevalent in everyday speech. However, whether the use of vocal fry is detrimental to voice production is unclear. This preliminary study assessed the effects of using continuous vocal fry on voice production measures and listener ratings. Ten healthy individuals (equal male and female, mean age = 22.4 years) completed 2 counterbalanced sessions. In each session, participants read in continuous vocal fry or habitual voice quality for 30 min at a comfortable intensity. Continuous vocal fry was simulated. Phonation threshold pressure (PTP10 and PTP20), cepstral peak prominence, and vocal effort ratings were obtained before and after the production of each voice quality. Next, 10 inexperienced listeners (equal male and female, mean age = 24.1 years) used visual analog scales to rate paired samples of continuous vocal fry and habitual voice quality for naturalness, employability, and amount of listener concentration. PTP10 and vocal effort ratings increased after 30 min of continuous vocal fry. Inexperienced listeners rated continuous vocal fry more negatively than the habitual voice quality. Thirty minutes of simulated, continuous vocal fry worsened some voice measures when compared with a habitual voice quality. Samples of continuous vocal fry were rated as significantly less employable, less natural, and requiring greater listener concentration as compared with samples of habitual voice quality. Future studies should include habitual users of vocal fry to investigate speech stimulability and adaptation with cueing to further understand pathogenesis of vocal fry.