Undertone Singing
Vocal Fry (Strohbass) vs. Throat Singing
Definition: Undertone Singing
Undertone singing refers to techniques that produce pitches below the modal voice. These techniques extend the vocal range down by an octave or more.
There are two fundamentally different vocal techniques for undertone singing:
- Vocal fry (Strohbass): Vibrational mode of the vocal chords is changed. This technique can be used to sing a series of undertones.
- Kargyraa (Throat singing): Ventricular folds or aryepiglottic folds vibrate along with the vocal cords.bändern.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gZGMSQljmk
Strohbass vs. throat singing, comparison of both undertone singing techniques by means of video endoscopy of Wolfgang Saus’ voice. Video: Dr. med. Andreas Seimer, Phoniatrics at the Marienhospital Stuttgart, during the Stuttgarter Stimmtage 2006.
Vocal Fry (Strohbass)
Gentle Undertones
Definition Vocal Fry (Strohbass)
Vocal fry is a vocal technique that produces undertones, or subharmonics, an octave or more below the modal voice. This is achieved by modulating the vibration mode of the vocal cords.
Modulation of Vocal Cord Oscillation
It is a vibration modulation of the vocal cords. Leonardo Fuks studied the vocal fry technique in detail in his dissertation . Fuks calls it a “periodic pulse register.” This relatively soft sound occurs when the voice relaxes and begins to rattle. This can happen unintentionally when the voice becomes tired. The same thing happens when you reach the limit of the modal voice folding over into the falsetto tone while yodeling—i.e., when the voice transitions from full vibration to edge vibration of the vocal cords.
Two octaves lower
The art of Leonardo Fuks
This unique sound sample comes from Leonardo Fuks (courtesy). He sings down to the 5th subharmonic, i.e. he produces a tone that has only one fifth of the frequency of the fundamental of his vocal chords.
The picture shows the spectral analysis of this recording (Overtone Analyzer). From left to right you find the fundamental, then the 1st subharmonic, the 2nd subharmonic and so on until the fifth subharmonic. As you can see, not all perceived tones have a fundamental. The ear only needs a section of the partial tone series to perceive it (residual tone effect). Fuks sings the same fundamental B3 all the time.
Vocal Fry when Speaking
A Recent Habit Of Actors
In both speaking and classical singing, this effect is usually undesirable. I personally find the vocal fry technique very soothing and relaxing for the voice. It only works when you are completely relaxed, making it ideal for a quick, gentle warm-up. I have discovered that I can produce two qualities of straw bass: a quiet, relaxed one and a louder one, which causes tension in my larynx. Studies are still pending, but I suspect that the cartilage plays a role in the louder case. (Finally confirmed; see the Video “Strohbass vs. Kargyraa”)
For some American actors, vocal fry in speaking voice seems to be becoming popular:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDfJn1kcQuU
Vocal fry – but some people don’t seem to like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsE5mysfZsY
Vocal fry – New trend among American actresses?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmRf0VoIxmw&t=87s
How to Sing Vocal Fry
This relatively quiet sound is achieved when the voice relaxes and begins to rattle. This occasionally occurs unintentionally when the voice is tired. The same happens when yodeling, when you slowly reach the limit of the voice, folding over into the falsetto tone, i.e., the limit of full vibration to the edge vibration of the vocal cords. This rattling can be cultivated so that the voice locks onto the lower tone. This allows you to sing an octave below your singing tone, which can be helpful in choral singing.
Literature & Sources on Vocal Fry
Quotations in the Text
Further Reading
Kargyraa – Throat Singing Undertones
Powerful rough undertone singing technique
Definition Kargyraa Throat Singing
Throat singing (kargyraa) is a singing technique that creates a pitch impression of one octave below the modal voice by vibrating the ventricular folds or aryepiglottic folds alongside the vocal cords.
The Tuvinian singing technique called kargyraa is a prime example of throat undertone singing. There are undertone techniques similar to kargyraa in other cultures. There is no cross-cultural category name yet. Unfortunately, there is a likelihood of confusion with the term throat singing: throat singing is used in literature with four completely different meanings.
‘Throat singing’ can mean:
- throat singing = undertone singing
- throat singing = synonymous with overtone and undertone singing of the nomads in Central Asia as a translation of the Tuvinian word khöömej.
- throat singing = throaty-rough singing techniques with throat constriction (neither overtone nor undertone singing)
- throat singing = overtone singing
That is why, in case of doubt, I use undertone throat singing, vemtricular fold technique or simply the Tuvinian term kargyraa to describe the technique.
Undertones Without Overtone Singing
Yevgeniy Ulgbasev – Khai from Khakassia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttOKMzx6Fao
Julia Charkova – Takhpakh from Khakassia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh_FKLUsC9s
A Baluch boy with undertone singing from Pakistan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyDm63_E098
Undertones With Overtones
Undertone singing is combined with overtone singing in some cultures. Lowering the fundamental by undertone singing shifts the entire harmonic scale downwards. This means that twice as many overtones are available as with the normal voice. In this way, women, for example, can sing in the bass and baritone ranges and produce the same overtones as men.
Central Asia
In Tuva there is the undertone singing technique called kargyraa, which is often combined with overtone singing. There are artists who use only this low register (cf. Albert Kuvezin, Yat Kha). Many (probably most) undertone throat songs do not use overtone singing (see above). Kargyraa-like undertones also exist in the traditional music of Europe and Africa.
Africa
The umngqokolo, which combines the vocal technique of kargyraa with overtone singing, is known from Xhosa women. In this case it is very virtuosic, because the Xhosa women (singing in a bass/baritone register!) imitate the sounds of the mouth bow and thereby change the fundamental note and thus sing two melodies at the same time (polyphonic overtone singing). The fundamental changes rhythmically by a major second, while an overtone melody appears above it in a faster tone sequence.
Tibet
There are also throat singing styles in Tibetan monasteries that produce undertones. It is not always clear to me whether the techniques are based on kargyraa or strobass, or whether both techniques occur and are used differently depending on the singer. The recordings I know are sung with strobass, which you can easily recognize by the occasional overturning of the voice into modal register. Tibetan monks usually recite very slow texts or mantras or phrases. Often the sound is dominated by the 10th harmonic, which is why some authors regard these songs as overtone singing.
Europe
In paghjella from Corsica and in cantu a tenores from Sardinia there is a rough deep voice called bassu or su basciu. It corresponds technically to kargyraa, but is sung without overtone techniques. In classical choral singing there are compositions – e.g. Rachmaninov and Tchaikovsky – which require basses down to A1 (contra A). Hardly any German voice achieves this bass with a modal voice (normal voice). That is why strohbass is used in such passages, something that only a few experts have mastered.
Kargyraa
Undertone singing of the Turkic peoples of Central Asia
There are several styles of undertone singing in the Tuvan kargyraa technique that have been little studied. A good overview is given by the diploma thesis by Sven Grawunder.
Sven Grawunder found the same constriction in the steppe kargyraa as in khöömej. The aryepiglottic folds that form this constriction are oscillated in addition to the vocal cords when singing. This creates a pseudoglottis, a second sound source. Apparently, these coupled oscillations produce a period of oscillation at half the frequency of the singing tone, creating the overtones of a note one octave below the singing voice.
It is possible that the ventricular folds underneath the constriction are also involved in the phonation process. However, since they are covered in the picture, this cannot be seen. Studies by Tran Quang Hai, myself and others show that in Kargyraa techniques, the ventricular folds (false vocal folds) together with the vocal cords form a complex oscillatory system without involvement of the aryepiglottic folds.
American throat singing expert Steve Sklar had a revealing videolaryngoscopy done on his kargyraa at the University of Wisconsin in 1998.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqXk1ShKsc0
Kargyraa is not entirely risk-free to learn, as one can easily injure the vocal cords. You don’t need a deep voice. There is a wonderful recording of an 11-year-old singing this technique on the CD “Tuva” by zeitausendeins and the same recording on the CD “Deep in the Heart of Tuva” by ellipsis arts.
Women can also use it to sing the bass, as the singers of the Tuvan group Tyva Kyzy and the throat singers of the Xhosa impressively demonstrate. In kargyraa you always sing an octave higher than the voice sounds. During a long campfire night together with the group Huun-Huur-Tu I learned to develop the approach to kargyraa from a relaxed throat by feeling the vibration deep in the windpipe and keeping my mouth closed.
Steve Sklar has released a CD video tutorial that I recommend.
Here’s a video by Jonathan Cope:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCom9ZCJAmE
Literature & Sources on Kargyraa
Undertone (Subharmonic) Series
Definition Undertone Series
Undertones are subharmonics of the fundamental tone. Their frequencies are integer divisors of the fundamental frequency.
Mirror of the Harmonic Series
The undertone series is the mirrored image of the overtone series. The fundamental tone is the highest tone. It is also the shared overtone of all the tones in the series. Or to put it another way: the undertone series consists of the possible fundamental tones with which a particular overtone can be sung.
Frequencies of the undertone series

Example: Frequencies of the undertone series of a 1600 Hz tone. On the left is the undertone series of a 1,600-Hz tone calculated by integer division: 1,600/2 Hz, 1,600/3 Hz, 1,600/4 Hz, etc. On the right, each undertone is shown as a fundamental tone. These fundamental tones contain 1600 Hz as an overtone. The frequencies are shown linearly to make the integer division more obvious.
The subharmonic series is derived from the integer division of the fundamental frequency. The second subharmonic oscillates at half the frequency of the fundamental, the third at one-third, the fourth at one-fourth, and so on. The twelfth subharmonic oscillates at one-twelfth the frequency of the fundamental. The terms “fundamental,” “first harmonic,” and “first subharmonic” are synonymous and all mean the fundamental. This numbering system establishes a direct relationship with frequency. Each number corresponds to the denominator of a frequency ratio.
Intervals of the Undertone Series
The series consists of mirrored intervals of the overtone series. These intervals include the descending octave, octave plus fifth, double octave, double octave plus major third, and so on.
Listen to the Undertone Series
The undertone series of G6 (g3) contains all the fundamental tones that could be used to produce G6 (g3) as an overtone. The fundamental tones between G2 (G) and C5 (c2) can be used for overtone singing.
Sing the Undertone Series
In theory, the scale of undertones could be sung using the undertone singing technique. In practice, however, only the second subharmonic, an octave below the singing tone, is sung. However, it is possible to sing down to the fifth subharmonic, as Leonardo Fuks has demonstrated (see above). Technically, the undertones of the singing tone do not sound; rather, a new, denser overtone spectrum containing the undertone is heard as a “virtual fundamental” (residual tone).
Composing with the Undertone Series
The undertone series is useful to composers in two ways:
- You can leave an overtone and at the same time sing a fundamental melody from the undertones.
- The undertone series gives the entire tone material that could be used to create a desired overtone.
I like that you talked about creating lots of undertones using a vibrational mode of the vocal chords. I can imagine how this is just one of the many techniques a singer can do to add more depth and layers to their music. A vocalist production expert can also help you when you are a budding artist to create those effects and make your song more attractive to potential listeners.