In addition, some consideration has been given to the sound quality of the chosen recordings, as one would not want a new listener to be overwhelmed by both the unfamiliarity of the music and the noisiness of the recordings. The choice of CDs only is also dictated by convenience. The reader should keep in mind that Carnatic music is not nearly so well-represented on CDs as is Hindustani music , and that many of the best performances are found only on tapes or noisy discs. Some thought has also been given to how widely available a particular recording might be, although Carnatic performances are by no means as well-distributed in recording as the volume of the tradition might imply. Recordings which are more widely available have been given some preference for the list, but this is not always possible, unfortunately.
Carnatic music is the classical music of South India.
Madras in Tamil Nadu is the leading center of the academic establishment, though many artists come from the neighboring states of Andhra, Kerala, and Karnataka, as well as some from other states of India or even abroad. As in Indian music in general, vocal rendition is the primary means of musical expression, and in fact most compositions performed by instrumentalists are exact copies of vocal works. Concerts are usually heavily miked and then amplified. Though there are a large number of fine compositions, performance practice dictates the incorporation of improvisational features by the artists within these compositional frameworks. An artist is not considered complete without the ability to improvise at any potential point during a rendition.