Carnatic Music Instruments:

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There are three types :

1.       1. Melody

2.       2. Rhythm

3.       3. Drone

Melody:

1.       Vocals

    The one who sing a song is called as singer or vocalist. Vocal determines the representation of producing musical sounds with the voice.

2.       Saraswati Veena

     Saraswati veena, the name comes from the goddess Saraswathi who is usually play that. It is an Indian string instrument. It is most used in carnatic Indian Classical music.  The other three types of veenas are Vichitra veena and rudra veena. These two veenas are used most probably in Hindustani music.

3.       Venu

     Venu is the Sanskrit word or simply in English it is called as flute. It was made by a Bamboo stick. It is also an Indian music mostly used in Carnatic Music. The word venu mentions the Hindu God Krishna. This flute used mainly in South India.

4.       Violin

     Violin is a string instrument used for high pitched sound. It was found by ancient origin characteristics in the 16^th century(Italy). The violinist produce sound by having a bow over one string or two more string. This was mainly used with gut, nylon, synthetic or steel strings. Violin is used all over the world as non-western music mainly.

5.       Chitra Veena

     Chitra veena also called as chitravina, gottuvadhyam, hanumad vina or mahanataka vina. It has 20 or 21 string fretless lute for carnatic music. This was played mostly in South India. Here out of these strings, six main strings are used for melody, 3 drone strings and twelve synthetic strings running parallel and below the main strings.

6.       Nadaswaram

     Nadaswaram  is the musical instrument playes most in Hindu weddings and temples of all south Indian tradition. It is the part of the family called Mangala Vadya. This was played with pair accompanied with a pair of drums called thavil. It is the most popular classical musical instruments.

7.       Mandolin

     Mordern Mandolins are originated in Naples, Italy in the late 18^th century. It has four pairs of metal strings which are plucked with a plectrum.

Rhythm:

1.       Mridangam

     Mridangam is the primary rhythmic instrument in a carnatic music. It is also played all over the world like srilanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, United Kingdom etc. Mridangam is often accompanied by the ghatam, kanjira and the morsing.

2.       Ghatam

     Ghatam is simply called pot. The players use fingers, thumbs, palms and heels of the hands to play on the outer surface of the pot. A cute low  pitch bass sound is created by hitting the mouth of the pot with a hand. Many tones arise while hitting on different areas of the pot. It accompanies with Mridangam too.

3.       Morsing

     Morsing is mainly used for folk music but it features in carnatic concerts. It also mainly used in carnatic music. It consists of a metal ring in the shape of a horseshoe.

4.       Kanjira

     It is used as a supporting instrument for Mridangam.  Kanjira have been used since 1880’s, and it was added to classical concerts during the 1950’s. It is made up of a jackfruit tree, between 7 and 9 inched in width and 2 to 4 inches in depth.

5.       Thavil

     Thavil is in the shape of barrel drum which is made up of jackfruit wood. The layers are made up of animal skin. In the right side it is made by water buffalo and in the left side it is stretched with goat skin.

Drone:

1.       Tambura

     Tambura is a long-necked lute.  It has four or five wire strings which are plucked one after another to produce harmonic sound. It will shows different pitches according to the singer.

2.       Shruti Box

     Shruti Box is similar to harmonium and it is used to provide a drone sound. In this shruti box adjustable buttons are there to tuning the sound. Nowadays, there are electronic shruti boxes.

Carnatic Music Concepts

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Concepts:

·         Shruti:

     Shruti  is a Sanskrit term used in several contexts through out Indian music. A Shruti is the smallest interval which refers to the scale or the pitch on which we can hear a slight difference in our ear.  Each shruti has three octaves or staayis names: Madhyama Staayi, Mandara Staayi and Taara Staayi.

·         Swara:

     The seven notes in Indian music are called as swaras named as Shadja, rishabh, gandahr, madhyam, pancham, dhaivat and nishad. They are shortened as sa, ri, ga, ma, pa ,dha, ni and it is written as s, r, g, m, p, d, n.

·         Raga:

     Raaga  sone of the melodious modes used in Indian Classical Music.

·         Tala:

           Tala also referred as clap for the rhythemic pattern of any composition for the entire subject of rhythm.

·         Melakarta:

     Melakarta is the collection of fundamental ragas in carnatic music. From this Melakarta the ragas can be generated. Melakarta raga is also reffered as Mela, Karta or Sampurna.

Melakarta Chart:

MELA NUMBER MELA NAME AROHANA  AVAROHANA 1 Kanakangi S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N1 S   S N1 D1 P M1 G1 R1 S   2 Ratnangi S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N2 S S N2 D1 P M1 G1 R1 S 3 Ganamurti S R1 G1 M1 P D1 N3 S   S N3 D1 P M1 G1 R1 S   4 Vanaspati S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N2 S   S N2 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S 5 Manavati S R1 G1 M1 P D2 N3 S   S N3 D2 P M1 G1 R1 S 6 Tanarupi S R1 G1 M1 P D3 N3 S S N3 D3 P M1 G1 R1 S

CHAKRA 2 - NETRA

7 Senavati S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N1 S S N1 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S 8 Hanumatodi S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N2 S   S N2 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S   9 Dhenuka S R1 G2 M1 P D1 N3 S S N3 D1 P M1 G2 R1 S 10  Natakapriya S R1 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S   S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R1 S   11 Kokilapriya S R1 G2 M1 P D2 N3 S   S N3 D2 P M1 G2 R1 S 12 Rupavati S R1 G2 M1 P D3 N3 S   S N3 D3 P M1 G2 R1 S

CHAKRA 3 - AGNI

13 Gayakapriya S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N1 S   S N1 D1 P M1 G3 R1 S   14 Vakulabharanam S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N2 S S N2 D1 P M1 G3 R1 S   15  Mayamalavagaula S R1 G3 M1 P D1 N3 S S N3 D1 P M1 G3 R1 S 16 Chakravakam S R1 G3 M1 P D2 N2 S   S N2 D2 P M1 G3 R1 S   17 Suryakantam S R1 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S   S N2 D2 P M1 G3 R1 S   18 Hatakambari S R1 G3 M1 P D3 N3 S   S N3 D3 P M1 G3 R1 S

CHAKRA 4 - VEDA

19 Jhankaradhwani S  R2 G2 M1 P D1 N1 S   S N1 D1 P M1 G2 R2 S 20 Natabhairavi S  R2 G2 M1 P D1 N2 S   S N2 D1 P M1 G2 R2 S 21 Keeravani S  R2 G2 M1 P D1 N3 S   S N3 D1 P M1 G2 R2 S 22 Kharaharapriya S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N2 S   S N2 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S   23 Gowrimanohari S R2 G2 M1 P D2 N3 S   S N3 D2 P M1 G2 R2 S   24 Varunapriya S R2 G2 M1 P D3 N3 S S N3 D3 P M1 G2 R2 S

CHAKRA 5 - BANA

25 Mararanjani S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N1 S S N1 D1 P M1 G3 R2 S   26 Charukesi S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N2 S   S N2 D1 P M1 G3 R2 S   27 Sarasangi S R2 G3 M1 P D1 N3 S   S N3 D1 P M1 G3 R2 S   28 Harikambhoji S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N2 S   S N2 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S   29 Dheerashankarabharanam S R2 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S   S N3 D2 P M1 G3 R2 S   30 Naganandini S R2 G3 M1 P D3 N3 S   S N3 D3 P M1 G3 R2 S

CHAKRA 6 - RUTU

31 Yagapriya S R3 G3 M1 P D1 N1 S   S N1 D1 P M1 G3 R3 S 32 Ragavardhani S R3 G3 M1 P D1 N2 S   S N2 D1 P M1 G3 R3 S 33 Gangeyabhushani S R3 G3 M1 P D1 N3 S   S N3 D1 P M1 G3 R3 S   34 Vagadheeswari S R3 G3 M1 P D2 N2 S   S N2 D2 P M1 G3 R3 S 35 Soolini S R3 G3 M1 P D2 N3 S   S N3 D2 P M1 G3 R3 S   36 Chalanata S R3 G3 M1 P D3 N3 S   S N3 D3 P M1 G3 R3 S

CHAKRA 7 - RISHI

37 Salagam S R1 G1 M2 P D1 N1 S   S N1 D1 P M2 G1 R1 S 38 Jalarnavam S R1 G1 M2 P D1 N2 S S N2 D1 P M2 G1 R1 S 39 Jhalavarali S R1 G1 M2 P D1 N3 S   S N3 D1 P M2 G1 R1 S 40 Navaneetam S R1 G1 M2 P D2 N2 S   S N2 D2 P M2 G1 R1 S 41 Pavani S R1 G1 M2 P D2 N3 S   S N3 D2 P M2 G1 R1 S   42 Raghupriya S R1 G1 M2 P D3 N3 S   S N3 D3 P M2 G1 R1 S

CHAKRA 8 - VASU

43 Gavambodhi S R1 G2 M2 P D1 N1 S   S N1 D1 P M2 G2 R1 S   44 Bhavapriya S R1 G2 M2 P D1 N2 S S N2 D1 P M2 G2 R1 S   45 Subhapantuvarali S R1 G2 M2 P D1 N3 S   S N3 D1 P M2 G2 R1 S   46 Shadvidhamargini S R1 G2 M2 P D2 N2 S S N2 D2 P M2 G2 R1 S   47 Suvarnangi S R1 G2 M2 P D2 N3 S S N3 D2 P M2 G2 R1 S   48 Divyamani S R1 G2 M2 P D3 N3 S S N3 D3 P M2 G2 R1 S

CHAKRA 9 - BRAHMA

49 Dhavalambari S R1 G3 M2 P D1 N1 S   S N1 D1 P M2 G3 R1 S   50 Namanarayani S R1 G3 M2 P D1 N2 S   S N2 D1 P M2 G3 R1 S   51 Kamavardhini S R1 G3 M2 P D1 N3 S   S N3 D1 P M2 G3 R1 S   52 Ramapriya S R1 G3 M2 P D2 N2 S   S N2 D2 P M2 G3 R1 S   53 Gamanasrama S R1 G3 M2 P D2 N3 S   S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R1 S   54 Viswambari S R1 G3 M2 P D3 N3 S   S N3 D3 P M2 G3 R1 S

CHAKRA 10 - DISHI

55 Syamalangi S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N1 S  S N1 D1 P M2 G2 R2 S  56 Shanmukhapriya S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N2 S  S N2 D1 P M2 G2 R2 S  57 Simhendramadhyamam S R2 G2 M2 P D1 N3 S S N3 D1 P M2 G2 R2 S  58 Hemavati S R2 G2 M2 P D2 N2 S  S N2 D2 P M2 G2 R2 S  59 Dharmavati S R2 G2 M2 P D2 N3 S  S N3 D2 P M2 G2 R2 S 60 Neetimati S R2 G2 M2 P D3 N3 S  S N3 D3 P M2 G2 R2 S

CHAKRA 11 - RUDRA

61 Kantamani S R2 G3 M2 P D1 N1 S S N1 D1 P M2 G3 R2 S   62 Rishabhapriya S R2 G3 M2 P D1 N2 S S N2 D1 P M2 G3 R2 S   63 Latangi S R2 G3 M2 P D1 N3 S   S N3 D1 P M2 G3 R2 S   64 Vachaspati S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N2 S   S N2 D2 P M2 G3 R2 S   65 Mechakalyani S R2 G3 M2 P D2 N3 S S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R2 S   66 Chitrambari S R2 G3 M2 P D3 N3 S   S N3 D3 P M2 G3 R2 S

CHAKRA 12 - ADITYA

67 Sucharitra S R3 G3 M2 P D1 N1 S   S N1 D1 P M2 G3 R3 S   68 Jyotiswaroopini S R3 G3 M2 P D1 N2 S   S N2 D1 P M2 G3 R3 S 69 Dhatuvardhini S R3 G3 M2 P D1 N3 S   S N3 D1 P M2 G3 R3 S   70 Nasikabhooshani S R3 G3 M2 P D2 N2 S   S N2 D2 P M2 G3 R3 S   71 Kosalam S R3 G3 M2 P D2 N3 S   S N3 D2 P M2 G3 R3 S 72 Rasikapriya S R3 G3 M2 P D3 N3 S   S N3 D3 P M2 G3 R3 S

·         Asampurna Melakarta:

     Asampurna Melakarta is the system of above 72 ragas. It was proposed in the 17^th century by Venkatamakhin in his chaturdanda Prakasikha. Skipped notes or repeated notes were used in some of the ragas.