Instruments
Carnatic instruments
The eleven principal instruments of a modern Carnatic concert — voice at the centre, melodic accompaniment, percussion, drone, and the temple wind tradition. Every exponent listed has confirmed dates from the standard published references.
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The four-fold classification is old Indian organology — it appears in Bharata's Nāṭya Śāstra and in Dattilam before the Vādyādhyāya applies it. Saṅgīta Ratnakara's sixth chapter classifies instruments this way; it did not invent the scheme.
The voice is not listed under a family. It is not a vādya — it is the medium the instruments accompany, and the tradition does not classify it in this scheme.
Ghaṭam
2 exponentsalso: ghatam · ghat
IdiophoneSecondary percussionGhanaA wheel-thrown clay pot with a specific mix of brass-filings clay that produces a deep, pitched tone. The player rests the open mouth against the abdomen and strikes the body, rim, and neck with the fingers and palms.
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Morsiṅg
also: morchang · mukharsanku
IdiophoneSecondary percussionGhanaSmall iron horseshoe-shaped frame with a thin metal tongue. The player presses the frame against the teeth and flicks the tongue with a finger; pitch is shaped by changing the volume of the oral cavity.
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The Carnatic violin uses the same physical instrument as the European one but holds it differently and tunes it Sa-Pa-Sa-Pa — Bāluswāmi Dīkṣitar, the brother of Muttuswāmi (see Composers · Dīkṣitar), introduced the adaptation in the early 19th century.