Musician Records a Song on His Acoustic Guitar While Completely Submerged in the Caribbean Sea

Unlike most guitarists, the Austrian musician Bernd "Bernth" Brodträger (@Bernthguitar) doesn’t just play guitars. Others use the instrument just as it is designed, by plucking and strumming the strings with a pick and pressing notes with the other hand. But Bernth is no typical guitarist. He doesn’t limit himself with the standard rules laid out by the instrument’s design. Rather, he uses guitars as he likes, often warping and contorting them in styles that would make other musicians wonder whether he’s an eccentric musician. In one way, he is. His relationship with his guitar is like that of a sculptor with clay.

Bernth has drilled holes in his guitar, played unusual fingerpicking patterns, experimented by replacing standard guitar strings with rubber bands and dental floss, put sparklers into the sound hole, created a neckless guitar, built a 109-string guitar, and even poured water in the guitar for recording his 2022 track “Waterworks.” But around 2024's New Year’s Eve, he conducted an experiment that made both the musicians and the music lovers his fans.

In December 2023, Bernth departed from his home to board a flight at the Monteria airport to arrive at Puerto Limón in Putumayo, Colombia. Packed in his backpack with items like a dive stick, dive case, an underwater camera, and of course, a golden-brown Ibanez Talman acoustic electric guitar. He checked out the Colombian countryside, had a bumpy boat ride, enjoyed ripe mangoes, fiddled with baby turtles, burned cute dolls in the bonfire, and gazed at the night ocean. His goal was to record a new track on his guitar while remaining underwater, which may sound like a pipe dream to some.

“I am bringing a special underwater camera to capture both the video and the audio track and also some underwater headphones so that I can have a click track in my ear to play the song because the main goal is capturing a full music video underwater,” he said in a behind-the-scenes video. But filming this song wasn’t “all daiquiris and reading paperbacks on silver sands.” Many obstacles blocked his path. At first, a torrent of rain made it impossible for him to plunge into the waters with his guitar amidst raging wave currents. 

When he descended into the water at last, the footage recorded turned out to be useless when he saw it on his computer back in the room. Undeterred, he planned another dive underwater with his crew members. With a heavy, stone-filled guitar strapped to his shoulders, he softly dipped into the turquoise water of the Caribbean Sea. Heavy weight seemed to crush his shoulders. The air in his body made it challenging for him to remain still. Before he could handle this, a piercing pain shot through his ears as he sank deeper, and he struggled tremendously amidst the restless waves, almost blacking out in the process. 

Thankfully, this time, he was able to record the track properly. Titled Farewell, the track was released in January 2024, along with the full footage of his underwater performance. The video, which has made millions of fans, shows Bernth submerged in the clear, glassy blue waters of the sea, floating like a surreal white mermaid. His fingertips, as they pluck, tap and strum the guitar’s strings, it seems unimaginable to listen to how this pop-rock single sounds so melodious and soothing despite the water currents attempting to disturb the guitar’s sound hole. Many people said the song evoked feelings of nostalgia and others just went teary-eyed. 

Listen to Bernth’s melodious pop song Farewell below:

You can follow Bernd "Bernth" Brodträger (@Bernthguitar) on YouTube for some super-amazing musicals and songs.