Brainboxing is the art form or at the very least, art formed as a result of merging like-minds and differing opinions about the very matters of music, or more like what is the matter with this music. This music that baffles the dance floor king yet causes moody reflection and ambient dreams belied by smirking percussion, sawed-off sampling techniques, and matters of boxing and brains.
Practically speaking, Brainboxing is the creation of Dave Hill Jr., a drummer fond of wood, brass, and metal and hitting things made from things he likes. Inspired by Mingus, Max, Elvin and King Tubby and Aphex Twin and the 808, Hill looks for inspiration in the form of melody and mood found in cut up field recordings, lost guitar samples, and grainy synthesizer twitters. His journey began in Seattle, where his jazz percussion studies and gigging life as a drummer eventually led him to play piano, program drum machines, buy a sampler, and covet analog effects boxes. Taking his rig to New York, Hill discovered software synthesizers and loop hacking tricks. Soon, with the aid of computers, Hills cut up drum recordings and rehearsal tapes found structure. Take the jazzy guitar treatment on falling from 50 miles high or the drowned out dub bass credo of primal central and you hear the lost living room jam comes to life. Bending to the electronic side, Hill often programs new grooves from single drum and ambient one-shot samples as heard on the fish wear no bells and bass artifact all found on the 2005 track collection: looks like space to me.
Currently, Hill lives in New York City and handles Ableton's press and artist relations needs. His book Ableton Live 2 Power was the first book ever on Ableton Live and has established him as one of the foremost experts on the program. His musical collaborations include hundreds of recording projects, live performances, tours, and fine Jamaican rum tastings with artists such as Michael Shrieve (Santana), Shawn Pelton (SNL Band), Brad Houser (Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians) and James Rotondi (Air). Rotondi and Hills commercial release as Jettatura can be heard at (www.sixtyonesixtyeight.com). As a writer, Hill has contributed to many magazines including Remix, Mix, Electronic Musician, and founded a bi-monthly column Drums and Wires in Modern Drummer.
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