He plays many instruments including drums, octoban, darbuka, udukai, ghatam and kanjira. He began drumming at the age of seven. Sivamani started his musical career at the age of 11. He was inspired by Noel Grant and Billy Cobham. He has played for M.S. Viswanathan, Ilayaraja, A. R. Rahman and others. In 1990, he shared the stage with Billy Cobham at Mumbai's Rang Bhavan.

During the early stage of his career, he collaborated with T. Rajendar for many of his music compositions. The tabla player Zakir Hussain invited him to share the stage with himself and Trilok Gurtu at a fusion concert in Mumbai. Sivamani has since collaborated with several musicians including Louis Banks. He has done world tours with A. R. Rahman and collaborated with him for Bombay Dreams. He has also been a part of a musical group called "Shraddha" which comprises Shankar Mahadevan, Hariharan, U. Srinivas and Loy Mendonsa.

Sivamani is part of bands called "Asia Beatnik" and "Silk & Shraada." He has performed in Dubai, Moscow, New York, Doha and Toronto. During the Mumbai Festival 2005, Coca-Cola India invited him to perform at the Limca Fresh Face 2005 event, where he created melody from limca bottles. He performed drumming during the IPL Championships in 2008 and 2010. He is affiliated with the Chennai Super Kings team, but gained recognition through his role as A. R. Rahman's lead percussionist. He was conferred with Padma Shri in 2009.