I have typed in the contents of the CDs in this list myself. For the most part, I have only copied the information off of the CD itself. I have tried to take into account the submitted corrections, as well as fix inaccuracies which were apparent to me. This has not been done in a comprehensive way to this point. Any further help would be appreciated.
Many links to this page characterize it as a "catalog" which is of course quite incorrect. It is not comprehensive in any sense, and this is a non-profit website which does not offer CDs for sale. We do, however, provide a purchasing information link for each recording, which gives some information regarding its label & availability. In some cases, the CDs are widely available, including in major online retailers, and we have included direct links for ordering them. This is in the minority of cases, but the link does always provide whatever information we have at hand.
It would also be potentially useful to try to compile a more complete listing of CDs. This would require that other people type in contents of the CDs they have, combined with a search engine for accessing the collection. If anyone would like to help with such a project, please let me know. I have no problem providing the space for the CD content text and putting a search engine in place as needed. I still think that such a project would be worthwhile, but am simply not willing to undertake it by myself.
Since I started doing this, I also typed in several CDs which did not stay on the selective list. These can be found from the CD index page which is not very sophisticated. I presently have no plans to include information on cassette tapes or other media, although there are many many items available primarily on tape. For now, CD must be dictated for matters of convenience.
Most of the CDs follow the following format for contents:
kriti name - raga/tala - composer (playing time)
Spelling is generally that used on the CD itself, although I have
modified some of the more absurd excesses. Nonetheless, one finds
Sanskrit spelling and Tamil spelling interchanged, as well as
various other things. Hopefully it is understandable nonetheless.
The issue of adoping a standard is still somewhat open, although
leaving intact what is on the CD should make it easiest for someone
to find it.
Thanks especially to Srinivasan Pichumani for helping me fill in the information on several tracks, as well as other contributors as named in the individual files.
I have also noted the sound quality of the recordings: superlative, good, fair, poor. On Western standards, the "good" would be "fair" and the "superlative" would be "good" or maybe "superlative". That is simply the state of Carnatic recordings, which are generally of abysmal quality.
Thank you for your interest, and I will endeavor to keep this listing up to date as new items of particular relevance appear.