L. Subramaniam had the opportunity of working with great names in Indian classical music. Some of them are, Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar and M.D. Ramanathan and many others. It all started at the age of six when he gave his first live performance. Born to musicians parents, he is highly educated. In fact, he is a doctorate in medicine and yet he became a violinist. Currently he is married to famous movie singer Kavita Krishnamoorthy.

L. Subramaniam has managed to keep a low profile and yet his deeds speak volumes of what this talent has achieved over a period of time. He has not only composed music for orchestras but also worked for Hollywood movies. His musical scores in movies like Salaam Bombay and Mississippi Masala cannot be forgotten easily. A winner of awards like Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan, he still remains a humble servant to the art of music.

Mridangam has been given utmost impiortance in Hindu sculpture mythology. Many deities like Nandi and Ganesha have been shown with this instrument. It is being said that while lord Shiva was performing Tandava dance, Nandi was playing the mridangam. Perhaps, that why mridangam is also called as Deva Vaadyam that means instrument of the Gods. One unique feature of mridangam is that it can be played from both sides.

Smaller aperture is known as bala bhaaga or valanthalai and the bass aperture is called thoppi or eda bhaaga. The appealing metallic timbre gets its effect from black paste that is also known as karnai or satham. Mridangam is a must have instrument in all carnatic musical concerts.

Tamil music started off with the Classical Carnatic music. It was basically developed by the trinity of 3 saints called Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshitar and Shyama Shastrigal. Purandaradasar was another one of the pioneers of Carnatic music.

The initial Tamil movie songs were more classical oriented with devotional songs dominating the scene. Melody was a key element in all the songs. But over the years Tamil film music has kept pace with the changing times and the music has evolved from being melody oriented to being disco beat oriented. The music today has all the elements like hip hop, rap, disco beats, English lyrics infused within the songs which the young audience can identify with.

The Tamil movie songs lyrics are available online for free download. Popular Tamil carnatic singers include MS Subbulakhmi, Balamurali Krishna, TN Seshagopalan, Bombay Jayashree, Bombay sisters, Unnikrishnan, Yesudas to name a few. Popular composers over the years have been The M.S.Viswanathan-Ramamurthy duo who dominated the Tamil music industry in the 50’s and 60’s, V.Kumar and the duo of Shankar- Ganesh. Recently established composers are Mani Sharma, Ashwin Subramanium, D Imman, Bharathwaj, Bheema, Shrikanth Deva, Jayaram Pushparaj, GV Prakash, and others.

Tamil folk music is like the ambrosia for ardent classical music lovers. Not only is the style of singing traditional but also the instruments used are also conventional. Most of these Tamil folk songs are also accompanied by dances like the Bharat Natyam which is indigenous to the state of Tamil Nadu. Thus these folk songs are more of a folk music dance style where the element of dance is as important as the music and the song itself. Some pieces of Tamil folk music can be easily downloaded. Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan and Pushpavanam Kuppuswamy are two recent musicians who have tried very hard indeed to revive the traditions of Tamil folk songs and music in the cities and tried to give the medium the exposure and attention that it rightfully deserves.

Though most of the folk songs have died down from the cities they are still sung in the rural areas and many Tamil film music directors are trying to incorporate the Tamil folk music in their songs. They often land up creating a fusion music of folk and modern styles which is unique to hear. This kind of music is widely available online for free.

Even within Tamil Nadu the different tribes of the hilly areas have their own different varied folk music styles.

In Tamilnadu, the instruments are not classified with respect to the types but are categorized based on the event where it is played. For instance, in South India the instrument Nathaswaram is played in wedding ceremonies and religious festivals. Another instrument Kumbu is also connected with religious rituals. The most traditional instrument, the Silappadikaaram is widely used in this place in almost every occasion. Yaazh forms another traditional instrument in the form of fish, boat and crocodile. However, this instrument has vanished away with the advance of technologies.

The unavoidable traditional instruments used by Tamil artists were the Veena, the Thavil, the Tambura, the Mridungam, the Chenda, the Nathaswaram and the Ghatam. The percussion instruments are also very popular here. The Nagara makes a popular percussion Tamil musical instrument that is widely used in temples and has a hemispherical drum shape. The instrument is usually carried over a well-adorned elephant in between two large curve shaped sticks.

Damaram makes another percussion instrument that is very popular among Tamilians. It has conical shape supported with a wood shell and leather braces. It is usually practised on the top of bullocks and is played using a curved and a straight stick. Udukku is another traditional instrument widely used in temples and is recognized as a symbol of Shiva. Gummati, Ekkalam and Pambai are membra phonic instruments that are played in memorable occasions or religious functions.

All these traditional instruments are still practised in many parts of Tamilnadu. However, the technological advance and new trendy design have replaced these ancient instruments with newer forms of musical instruments. The new trendy keyboards and other instruments have taken over the whole Tamil film and music industry. However, the Tamil temple rituals are practiced with the old hand made musical instruments even these days.