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.
Violin
6 exponentsalso: vāyalin · Carnatic violin
Bowed stringMelodic accompanimentTataFour-string bowed lute, identical in construction to the Western violin but held in the Indian posture — seated cross-legged with the scroll braced against the ankle so both hands are free to ornament freely. Tuning is Sa-Pa-Sa-Pa (1st–4th strings).
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Tampura
also: tanpura · tambura
Drone stringDroneTataLong-necked four- (sometimes five- or six-) stringed lute, played open-string only, plucked in slow continuous rotation. The jīvāḷi cotton thread under each string at the bridge produces the characteristic shimmering overtone (jīvā) that gives the drone its sustain and colour.
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Sarasvati Vīṇā
5 exponentsalso: Tanjore vīṇā · Mysore vīṇā
Plucked stringMelodic leadTataSingle-piece jackfruit-wood body about 1.3 m long, with 24 fixed metal frets and a large hemispherical resonator at one end. A secondary gourd (tumba) at the upper neck rests on the player's lap and provides additional resonance. Four main strings + three side (talā) strings.
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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.