NASHVILLE -- Bass player Mark Hill is a sought-after session player in a town of expert musicians-for-hire. In the 15 years he’s been working the Nashville circuit, Hill has played on hundreds of sessions, giving solid bottom-end to projects by Art Garfunkel, Kenny Loggins, Amy Grant, Steven Curtis Chapman, John Wesley Harding, Martina McBride and Carrie Underwood, among many others. Hill has also extensively toured with Keith Urban and played on film soundtracks, jingles for The Today Show and Coca-Cola, and many, many independent artist releases and demos. Whether working in his own Franklin, Tennessee-based studio, The Chapel, or out on some big-time Music Row session, Hill is a consummate tone-master, relying on a select arsenal of basses, effects pedals, vintage amps and outboard processing to help him deliver whatever’s called for on a gig. Since he may be laying down bass on a gospel project one day and on a rock, pop, or country record the next, this is no easy task, though at least tone-wise he’s consistently nailing it with the help of his A-Designs Audio REDDI tube DI boxes. “An engineer buddy of mine, Mills Logan, had me play through one on a session. I literally played about five notes, went to the phone and ordered one,” says Hill of the REDDI. “It was the most instantly gratifying box I have ever plugged my bass into.” The REDDI has been gratifying on many levels, says Hill, who appreciates its consistency on the typically fast-paced sessions he encounters. “Producers and a lot of engineers in Nashville tend to rely on the bass player for tone because sessions happen so fast here,” Hill adds. “Sometimes I’ll do three different three-hour sessions in three different studios with full band. So you can imagine for an engineer… setup and tone, from me, has to be quick, good, and reliable.” Since he began bringing the REDDI to sessions, Hill purchased a second unit for The Chapel, and has played through them on many records, always impressed with its tonal effect. “The REDDI gives that real nice and warm, smooth and thumpy tube sound,” Hill shares. “It works extremely well for any genre, and Nashville is a very musically eclectic town, so session guys here have to be ready for about anything. I haven’t been to a session, ever, where I thought the REDDI might not apply. It’s invaluable.” Hill believes that bass tone, while critical, is very fundamental. “If you have a good bass and good hands, you shouldn’t need a lot of EQ or compression. On many dates I have used an active Jazz bass into the REDDI, straight to tape – no compression, no EQ. This is not my normal chain, but it can and has been done. And it stood up in the track very, very well.” Hill’s typical signal chain, rather, is a custom or Fender Jazz bass (tuned down at least a step) into his pedal board – a selective arrangement of Nobels ODR-1 Distortion, EBS Multi Comp, and Sadowsky pre – into a tuner/switcher box, the REDDI, Tube Tech’s MEC1A channel strip, then straight to tape. In The Chapel, Hill plugs into the REDDI, then goes into a Neve 1073 or Universal Audio LA610 into his Pro Tools system with Lucid converters. He monitors there on Dynaudio BM15As. On project after project, Hill’s bass playing is acclaimed. “The producer/engineers may not always know what I am playing through, they just know if it’s working in the track,” Hill continues. “But I have had many producer/engineers see the REDDI and say, ‘What the heck is that? It sounds great; be sure to bring that next time too!’ and I have had several fellow bass players around town call me after they heard about it and ask me all about it. I recommend it all the time.” Hill’s REDDI-fied bass lines can be heard on the soundtrack for Disney’s animated feature, The Wild, as well as a recent Sara Evans tribute to Barbara Mandrell, the latest Veggie Tales record, Bob & Larry Sing The ’70s, Carrie Underwood’s debut album, Some Hearts, Montgomery/Gentry’s My Town, and the latest Richard Marx, Blake Shelton and Lee Ann Womack albums. With wider bandwidth and just the right amount of gain, the REDDI stands clear and clean above the competition. Great for basses, guitars, synths and electronic instruments that require a direct box for recording, the REDDI is READY to deliver unsurpassed sound for that perfect recording or live performance. Since Hill purchased his REDDIs, A-Designs Audio has modified the unit adding a front-panel 1/4-inch ‘Thru’ input, replacing the original model’s power toggle switch, which is now on the back panel. Aside from that update, the new REDDI model is identical to the original, and features a 6NIP vacuum tube, custom wound output transformer, toroidal power transformer, Neutrik combo 1/4-inch input, balanced XLR output, and rotary level knob, as well as a rear-panel ground-lift switch and IEC AC power connector. For more info on Mark Hill, visit www.markhillbass.com. |
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