The Kellycaster

My journey as a musician has been driven by a lifelong pursuit to be the best that I can be.
I was born with a rare joint impairment, I’ve relied on my voice and my passion for music to connect. The development of this accessible guitar has removed many barriers to my musicianship.

To meet my artistic aspirations and also my distinct and fine movements as a disabled artist, My project, the Kellycaster, is a collaborative creation developed with talented makers, designers, and developers to enhance accessibility. In partnership with Charles Mathews (Artist/programme coder) The Kellycaster combines hardware, software, and design to deliver a responsive, reliable, robust instrument that allows me to play in any setting, creating chords (standard and devised) and an authentic sound, showcasing the power of inclusive musical innovation.

Drake Music (UK leading organisation in music, disability, and technology, working at the intersection to break down barriers to music making) have supported me to manage the initial project (with thanks to Gawain Hewitt) and they play an important part now as we advocate together for greater innovation and accessibility in music and technology. The bespoke guitar body was then crafted, working closely with me by luthier Jon Dickinson.

The Kellycaster is a thing of beauty. A custom electric guitar designed to unlock limitless creative potential for both composing and performing. It is accessible, robust, reliable and responsive ans stylish. Most importantly, it brings joy to the player and the audience.

The Kellycaster, is pure rock and roll, ripping  up the  rules and reimagining what a guitar can be, who can play one and how. It’s a musical tool for progressive change. 

The kellycaster is innovative because it measures the vibrations of a real guitar string and maps this to a modelled sound at very low latency through a Bela audio platform, allowing for a very accurate playing and listening experience. With this technology it is possible to map any other controller to choose notes and chords, opening up guitar playing to anyone who can hit, strum or pluck a string.

The combination of the bespoke body,hardware and software, designed to enhance accessibility and break through limits and barriers, is what makes this such an innovative instrument. The 3rd innovative element of the guitar is the attitude behind it: Changing attitudes as to what was thought possible, raising expectations that accessibility is an aesthetic part of design, not an add on, but a critical aspect of the creative process. Finally that creativity in the technology leads to freedom, expression, creativity and the joy of making music.

Responsive and agile The Kellycaster enables John to perform solo as a guitar player, as a band member jamming with the flow of live music and finally as a song-writer with it’s ability to build an endless book of bespoke chords to create songs and chords that it was not previously possible to create.

The Kellycaster transforms the electric guitar into an inclusive, expressive instrument, without compromising on sound or soul, unlocking creative possibilities for both Disabled and non-disabled musicians.
So innovative that a team of researchers at Canadian universities (Responsive Ecologies Lab
Toronto Metropolitan University) are studying its design and assisting with plans to develop.

The Kellycaster stands apart from other accessible tech by offering subtlety, depth, and dynamic range.
By integrating MIDI with real string vibration detection, it allows performers to use a wide range of controllers and interfaces to shape music with the expressiveness and responsiveness of a traditional stringed instrument without the physical constraints of conventional guitar design.

The extremely low latency and chord changing system sets the Kellycaster apart from other MIDI guitars, delivering a seamless connection between player and sound. The individual string transposition for chord changes is particularly unique.
The Kellycaster is (even) more than a guitar. It’s a composition system and chord playbook, designed to support the player’s unique musical style and physical technique, integrating effortlessly into their live performance.

The Kellycaster is also innovative beyond its technology. It has at its core the principle of accessibility as an aesthetic and integral part of design.Co designed, rather than built for disabled people, the Kellycaster answers the question: ‘what if the instrument could fit the person?’

For the first time in my life, I can play my music and improvise live and unplanned. Within minutes the guitar can be programmed and tuned, allowing me to jam with other musicians, improvising or performing a song, live on stage.

After a number of years working on The Kellycaster as part of my songwriting experimental/improvisation process, playing and road testing my music live to 1000s of gig goers (including at Wembley Arena), and recording in a studio environment my first album – “Better Late Than Never” I am most excited about The future of The Kellycaster and what is to come from pushing concepts of accessibility further:
Building educational and equitable access applications, by:
Widening access to the Kellycaster concept through educational initiatives and low-cost versions.
The production and distribution of a low-cost educational Kellycaster.
Hopefully sharing the journey perhaps through The publication of a book, journal article, or case study on the development process, inclusive design theory, and applications in music education.

Developing technical elements to improve and deliver a fully integrated, standalone, and accessible guitar system suitable for live use by disabled and non-disabled musicians.

As a musician the most inspiring use of entry for me will be the new songs I’m able to create and share.