Harsh voice includes the use of the ventricular folds (the false vocal cords) to damp the glottis in a way similar to what happens when a person talks while lifting a heavy load, or, if the sound is voiceless, like clearing one's throat.
Diacritics seen in the literature include the under-tilde used for creaky voice, which may be appropriate when ambiguity is not a problem,[1] the double under-tilde used as the ad hoc diacritic for strident vowels, which may be allophonic with harsh voice, and an ad hoc underline.
In VoQS usage, "harsh voice" does not involve vibration of the ventricular folds, while in "pressed" or "tight" voice the arytenoid cartilages adduct so that only the anterior ligamental vocal folds vibrate.
The Bai language has both harsh ("pressed") and strident vowels as part of its register system, but they are not contrastive.
The Bor dialect of Dinka has contrastive modal, breathy, faucalized, and harsh voice in its vowels, as well as three tones.