YouTube guitarist has (incredibly bad) idea to record his amp underwater. But how does it sound?
Bernth is back with a watery stunt for his new track Drown
Austrian YouTube guitarist Bernth Brodträger has done some risky things in the name of creating guitar #content, but his latest stunt - playing an amp submerged in water (albeit in a bag) – has to rate among his more dangerous ideas.
In his latest clip – which (and we shouldn’t have to say this, but will anyway) should NOT be tried at home by anyone, ever – Brodträger demonstrates the resulting tone created when his Boss Katana amp is placed underwater.
We’re pleased to say there are some concessions to common sense in the clip –namely that the guitarist is using a battery-powered guitar amp (ensuring he’s not connected to the mains power supply) and that he secures it inside a waterproof bag. However, said bag looks like it’s used to hold his sandwiches, so we’re not sure we’d trust that particular measure ourselves.
Safety notices served, though, the tone produced is surprisingly musical, creating a sort of subtly modulated pitch/volume effect that sounds… well, watery. It helps that Brodträger has written a song specifically for the application – the thematically titled Drown.
The Austrian virtuoso also has a phenomenal touch, particularly when it comes to tapped passages, tightly muted arpeggios and the harmonics that he has woven into the track and that really sing in his, er, amp tub.
Check out the full clip above and, again – we implore you – under no circumstances attempt it yourself, anywhere – be it at home, in the studio, or your submersible.
In a slightly less risky escapade, Bernth recently took on the old ‘cheap guitar, huge audience’ challenge, playing a $90 acoustic guitar in front of 120,000 festival attendees. Again, the result is annoyingly good…
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Matt is Features Editor for GuitarWorld.com. Before that he spent 10 years as a freelance music journalist, interviewing artists for the likes of Total Guitar, Guitarist, Guitar World, MusicRadar, NME.com, DJ Mag and Electronic Sound. In 2020, he launched CreativeMoney.co.uk, which aims to share the ideas that make creative lifestyles more sustainable. He plays guitar, but should not be allowed near your delay pedals.
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