The dynamics of vocal onset

•Vocal onset is defined as the process occurring between the first detectable oscillatory glottal movement and the steady-state vocal fold vibration.•High speed imaging, photoglottography, flowglottography, EGG and ultrasonoglottography are suitable for identifying and analyzing hard, soft and breathy onsets.•Flow- and photoglottography are the most sensitive for detecting the first glottal movements in soft and breathy onsets.•The onset phase may comprise up to 30 cycles, depending to some extent on vocal fold adduction speed and expiratory flow.•From the first onset cycles on, the intraglottal pressure during the opening phase of the glottis exceeds that during the closing phase.