Guwahati: Royal Global University launched SonicDiff, an indigenous software application for researching and preserving Assam’s musical heritage.The launch took place at the Second Dr Bhupen Hazarika Oration Series, which also featured an inaugural lecture by RGU vice-chancellor Prof Alak Kumar Buragohain on Hazarika’s role as a public and organic intellectual through Antonio Gramsci’s political philosophy.Prof Amarjyoti Choudhury, chair and emeritus professor at Dr Bhupen Hazarika Centre for Creativity, opened the programme with a welcome address.Developed in-house by RGU’s head of information technology, Sashanka Baruah, SonicDiff will examine Borgeet and Bhaona alongside Hindustani and Western musical traditions using voice-science methods.“The application seeks to bring objective and measurable evidence to the study of Assam’s devotional music by examining Borgeet and Bhaona alongside Hindustani and Western musical traditions through standard methods of voice science. The initiative provides RGU with an in-house research capability to document, study and preserve the region’s musical heritage,” RGU said in a media release.In his lecture, Buragohain said Hazarika used music to help people understand social realities, articulate concerns and recognise the dignity of labour. He said Hazarika brought issues of inequality, justice and human dignity to wider audiences.Buragohain also discussed the influence of Jyotiprasad Agarwala and Bishnu Prasad Rabha on Hazarika’s intellectual and artistic development.“His (Hazarika’s) academic engagement with mass communication and adult education during his doctoral work at Columbia University also informed his understanding of the role of communication in social transformation,” he added.
