Women Fry, Men Braise
If young women are adopting the Vocal Fry then men could be said to be adopting the Vocal Braise.
The Vocal Fry imitates the popping and sizzling of bacon while the Braise imitates the long, slow form of cooking.
Alec Baldwin and Will Arnett in a Braise off
The habit of speaking in low, husky tones, as if everything is a secret or profound or must not be repeated outside the conference room. Barring medical issues that could generate this tone, such as cancer of the throat, chemotherapy that leaves the vocal cords raw, or those nasty benign vocal nodes, the hushed male gravel is as detrimental to long-term vocal health as the Vocal Fry.
Similar to the female celebrities who model the Vocal Fry, there are male celebrities who model this vocal tone; Clint Eastwood, Will Arnett, Alec Baldwin, are just a few celebrities who live in this range. Clint Eastwood braised his way through Million Dollar Baby a few years back. I’d say it was a character choice, but the fact is, Eastwood’s voice is carrying the burden of years of professional whispering.
Will Arnett and Alec Baldwin are another pair who choose to whisper their way through their respective shows; when Arnett guest stars on 30 Rock it becomes something of a Whisper Off, with both men acting through their whispering. (Here’s a video that parodies their voices: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=1fHG-oGdoto )
Again – I would say this is merely an acting choice but I have seen enough of Baldwin’s other work to know that it’s less of a choice than a pattern or habit. It is something he seems to have adopted late in his career. Perhaps we could delve into the psychology of his choice as we examine the last time we heard his full voice which was on those nasty voice messages he left for his teenage daughter a few years ago. Perhaps the oublic backlash shamed him into the Vocal Braise. Or perhaps his 30 Rock character, Jack Donaghy, is so popular that he now feels trapped in that vocal realm.
Relying on the Vocal Braise to give words and thoughts the illusion of weight is vocal trickery. You might think it adds to your speaking when, in fact, it diminishes it. It’s all style and no substance.
It may work for the characters these men play, but for men in the real world the whisper is neither desirable nor effective. Imagine Clint Eastwood trying to project on a daily basis through meetings, presentations, conference calls and networking events. A voice that lives where it does in Eastwood has very little flexibility, very little room for inflection or nuance. I read this article recently on some of the ways Eastwood directs. What this article says to me is that he has found ways to cope with his vocal limitations.
Real life demands a full vocal range whatever comes down the pike. Just as reality demands a whole spectrum of physical movement it requires a whole spectrum of vocal movement.
The cure for the Vocal Braise is akin to that of the Vocal Fry – better breath support. Speaking requires energy; speaking well requires more energy – much in the same way that doing anything well requires a mindfulness and a desire to do better. Sure, you may be able to ‘get by’ on bad vocal habits, but then be aware that at the times when you want to step up and do better than just ‘get by,’ your voice may not answer the call.
Read More:
Classical Theatre for a Modern Businessperson
Sparkling or Flat?
Phoning it in?
