0:00:23.209,0:00:24.509
(Guitar music)

0:01:15.861,0:01:17.541
(Applause)

0:01:21.111,0:01:24.421
When your roots[br]are aligned with your passion,

0:01:24.422,0:01:26.264
the sky's the limit.

0:01:26.265,0:01:29.350
Life is filled with endless dualism.

0:01:29.351,0:01:33.590
Change versus stability,[br]your brain versus your heart.

0:01:33.591,0:01:37.075
It seems like everywhere you look in life,[br]there's some sort of dualism

0:01:37.076,0:01:39.159
to challenge you[br]to balance in between them.

0:01:39.160,0:01:42.669
And these two elements[br]can work one against the other,

0:01:42.670,0:01:45.479
but they can also feed one another.

0:01:45.480,0:01:49.310
And I believe that when your roots[br]are aligned with your passion,

0:01:49.321,0:01:53.861
this can lead not to frustration[br]or misconceptions

0:01:53.870,0:01:56.688
- as sometimes happens[br]with dualism in life -

0:01:56.689,0:01:59.319
but to innovation and empowerment.

0:01:59.334,0:02:02.623
As for my roots, my father, David Sassi,

0:02:02.624,0:02:05.543
is the forth out[br]of ten brothers and sisters.

0:02:05.544,0:02:08.073
My roots come from Iraq,[br]from North Africa,

0:02:08.083,0:02:10.542
and also from Thessaloniki, Greece.

0:02:10.542,0:02:13.584
My grandfather, Yossef Sassi,

0:02:13.600,0:02:17.199
- I'm his namesake,[br]may his soul rest in peace -

0:02:17.200,0:02:20.814
had two elements that challenged him[br]throughout all his life.

0:02:20.824,0:02:25.313
They were his big loves, and he had[br]to juggle between both of them.

0:02:25.314,0:02:31.543
One was his passion for religion,[br]and for God essentially,

0:02:31.544,0:02:34.504
because he was a rabbi[br]and he was a man of spirit;

0:02:34.511,0:02:38.470
and the second was his love,[br]his endless love for music.

0:02:38.471,0:02:42.579
He played the lute[br]and he also researched and learned,

0:02:42.580,0:02:46.333
and was also teaching[br]the Arabic musical scales,

0:02:46.334,0:02:49.152
the "maqāmāt", and Oriental scales.

0:02:49.153,0:02:52.412
And this was the heritage[br]that he left to his children.

0:02:52.413,0:02:55.754
The music from Turkey, Greece, Egypt, etc.

0:02:55.755,0:03:01.554
I have clear visions of my father,[br]when I was two years old or so,

0:03:01.555,0:03:04.658
standing in the living room[br]in his underwear

0:03:04.673,0:03:08.953
singing in Arabic, singing in Italian,

0:03:08.971,0:03:12.970
in a lot of multicultural plethora[br]that I was exposed to,

0:03:12.971,0:03:15.481
during my upbringing.

0:03:16.030,0:03:17.889
This is a picture of me, by the way.

0:03:17.890,0:03:19.278
(Laughter)

0:03:19.279,0:03:20.279
Around that age,

0:03:20.280,0:03:23.045
probably looking at my father[br]wearing his underwear

0:03:23.046,0:03:24.425
(Laughter)

0:03:24.426,0:03:27.215
just feeling happy[br]and feeling privileged

0:03:27.216,0:03:31.675
to be exposed to this kind[br]of rich multicultural experience.

0:03:31.676,0:03:38.919
And truly as I grew up, I found out[br]that I love other types of music as well.

0:03:38.929,0:03:43.479
In my early teenage years, I was exposed[br]to rock and roll and heavy metal.

0:03:43.500,0:03:45.299
You know stuff like--

0:03:45.300,0:03:47.085
(Guitar music)

0:04:03.470,0:04:05.898
So this was a different kind of music.

0:04:05.899,0:04:07.999
(Applause)

0:04:09.998,0:04:15.167
But the most interesting thing[br]happened to me was around age 14,

0:04:15.168,0:04:17.596
when I first touched a guitar,

0:04:17.598,0:04:19.000
and two things happened:

0:04:19.000,0:04:23.921
one was that I knew I was meant for that,[br]I knew I found my match.

0:04:23.922,0:04:27.279
This is what I wanted[br]to do in life: to play the guitar.

0:04:27.280,0:04:30.520
As simple and as innocent as that:[br]just to play the guitar.

0:04:30.521,0:04:35.940
And the other were the sounds[br]that came out of hands, my fingers,

0:04:35.941,0:04:38.419
were sounds of--

0:04:38.420,0:04:40.223
(Guitar music)

0:04:43.715,0:04:45.574
They were kind of Middle Eastern;

0:04:45.575,0:04:48.579
they had all kinds[br]of Arabic musical scales in them.

0:04:48.580,0:04:54.701
So, essentially my upbringing, my roots,[br]merged into the music that I loved,

0:04:54.702,0:04:56.431
that was my passion.

0:04:56.432,0:05:01.879
This is why I believe that who we are[br]is essentially a delicate balance

0:05:01.889,0:05:07.440
between where we come from[br]along with the way that our heart beats.

0:05:08.486,0:05:10.395
And this has been proven to me

0:05:10.396,0:05:14.635
throughout all my years[br]and also in my activities.

0:05:14.636,0:05:16.280
I toured the world.

0:05:16.281,0:05:18.360
I had the chance to play music

0:05:18.361,0:05:22.667
that bridged and united people[br]together through music

0:05:22.668,0:05:26.387
and brought fans from Iran,[br]Iraq, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon,

0:05:26.388,0:05:28.574
from India to South America.

0:05:28.575,0:05:32.754
I've been able to make people happy[br]throughout the power of music.

0:05:32.755,0:05:35.084
Enemies were dancing together.

0:05:35.085,0:05:37.599
Throughout this musical journey of mine,

0:05:37.600,0:05:41.667
I encountered a sincere genuine problem.

0:05:41.688,0:05:43.257
Actually a challenge.

0:05:43.258,0:05:48.041
I play 19 different guitar types,[br]string instruments:

0:05:48.042,0:05:51.001
bouzouki, saz, oud, cümbüş,[br]ukulele, charango;

0:05:51.008,0:05:56.327
from Armenia to Bolivia,[br]if you have strings, I will find you

0:05:56.328,0:05:57.959
(Laughter)

0:05:57.960,0:06:02.052
and I will use you[br]in ways I hope you'll like.

0:06:02.053,0:06:03.586
(Laughter)

0:06:06.950,0:06:09.490
This has challenges of its own, right?

0:06:09.500,0:06:11.921
You know, to hold 40+ instruments,

0:06:11.922,0:06:14.661
all the types, variations[br]of those instruments.

0:06:14.662,0:06:17.561
I have a room at my place,[br]a room at my parents' place.

0:06:17.562,0:06:20.789
People come to our living room,[br]they sit on a guitar accidentally.

0:06:20.790,0:06:22.537
(Laughter)

0:06:22.538,0:06:25.285
But what I do in my live shows

0:06:25.286,0:06:29.635
is focusing and playing with essentially[br]two, three, four types of guitars.

0:06:29.636,0:06:34.975
Sometimes I have to move[br]in between them in the same song even.

0:06:34.976,0:06:37.462
One of them is the electric guitar,[br]as you've seen--

0:06:37.463,0:06:39.273
(Guitar music)

0:06:46.410,0:06:47.110
OK.

0:06:47.130,0:06:52.889
And the other is the bouzouki,[br]you know, the Greek mandolin.

0:06:52.890,0:06:54.734
(Bouzouki music)

0:07:13.119,0:07:20.659
And the third was the acoustic guitar,[br]or the nylon string guitar.

0:07:20.676,0:07:22.856
(Acoustic guitar music)

0:07:32.007,0:07:37.997
I looked for ways that I can combine them,[br]all of them in one instrument.

0:07:38.010,0:07:41.320
And then I thought, "What will I do?"

0:07:41.331,0:07:44.061
I've started to find[br]all kinds of solutions.

0:07:44.070,0:07:46.879
They were all cumbersome[br]and really not efficient.

0:07:46.880,0:07:50.259
So I thought like a child. I said,[br]"What would my children do?"

0:07:50.260,0:07:53.750
When they want something,[br]for example, one of them wants a cookie.

0:07:53.751,0:07:58.429
They don't think twice[br]or how it cannot be done, they just do it.

0:07:58.430,0:08:00.393
They never stop, they keep going.

0:08:00.394,0:08:03.004
They'll take a table, they'll put a chair,

0:08:03.009,0:08:07.038
they'll put another chair on top of it,[br]and eventually they'll reach the cookie,

0:08:07.039,0:08:10.289
because almost everything they do,[br]they do for the first time

0:08:10.290,0:08:14.197
and almost everything they do,[br]they want to do out of passion

0:08:14.198,0:08:18.578
because they really need it; they have[br]a genuine need to get to those cookies.

0:08:18.587,0:08:21.437
And for me, this guitar was my big cookie.

0:08:21.449,0:08:25.019
So I went to a guitar maker[br]with a lot of experience,

0:08:25.027,0:08:29.966
and I told him, "I want to built[br]this guitar, take me to the Moon."

0:08:29.967,0:08:31.993
And he said

0:08:31.994,0:08:35.369
- and he came highly recommended[br]because of his vast experience -

0:08:35.370,0:08:37.169
it cannot be done.

0:08:37.169,0:08:41.525
Actually he said, they will compete[br]on shared resources in such a way

0:08:41.527,0:08:44.330
that the instrument will never sound good

0:08:44.331,0:08:49.790
and it will be for sure cumbersome[br]and have tilt issues etc.

0:08:49.792,0:08:52.752
So as he was speaking,[br]I was thinking to myself,

0:08:53.778,0:08:58.812
"I have cars at home,[br]I came to a car manufacturer.

0:08:58.813,0:09:02.693
Well, actually I want to go to the Moon;[br]I need a rocket engineer."

0:09:03.876,0:09:08.543
So I looked for my rocket engineer[br]and when I thought about it, I said,

0:09:09.853,0:09:12.912
"The piano is a string[br]instrument, essentially."

0:09:12.913,0:09:16.328
So I went to a guy[br]that had experience in piano building.

0:09:16.329,0:09:20.209
Actually his name is[br]Benjamin Miller, guitar maker.

0:09:20.210,0:09:21.799
Today he builds guitars.

0:09:21.800,0:09:24.237
Also at the time[br]he was building some guitars,

0:09:24.238,0:09:28.558
but most of his experience to date[br]back then was in renovating pianos.

0:09:28.559,0:09:31.058
So I figured: this guy[br]knows about acoustics,

0:09:31.059,0:09:36.374
this guy knows about musical instruments,[br]about wood choices, etc.

0:09:36.959,0:09:38.497
Carpeting.

0:09:38.498,0:09:41.659
So I told him, "Let's go[br]to the Moon. If you will."

0:09:41.660,0:09:45.609
We came out to this quest,[br]to this journey,

0:09:45.610,0:09:50.249
and we made all the designs,[br]and after more than a dozen meetings

0:09:50.250,0:09:53.174
and a process[br]that spanned almost half a year,

0:09:53.175,0:09:56.194
we eventually came up with a prototype.

0:09:56.195,0:09:58.509
And this failed!

0:09:58.510,0:10:01.590
(Laughter)

0:10:01.599,0:10:03.419
It didn't work.

0:10:04.795,0:10:06.874
It didn't work.

0:10:06.875,0:10:11.196
And I was sitting there[br]holding this corpse of a vision.

0:10:13.323,0:10:17.023
And you know what was[br]the saddest thing about it?

0:10:17.041,0:10:21.129
That each and every word[br]the guitar maker said,

0:10:21.130,0:10:22.739
happened.

0:10:22.740,0:10:26.998
It was cumbersome, it had[br]tilt issues, it didn't sound good.

0:10:26.999,0:10:31.709
Everything, word by word,[br]all his words were written in stone.

0:10:32.641,0:10:37.921
But few minutes after that,[br]when I came back to my senses,

0:10:37.940,0:10:42.919
I picked up that prototype[br]and I said, "OK, let's see.

0:10:42.920,0:10:46.277
Here, this choice of woods here[br]was probably wrong.

0:10:46.278,0:10:49.377
And the angle of the necks,[br]the ergonomics here.

0:10:49.378,0:10:51.760
The weights of the tuning forks."

0:10:51.762,0:10:57.340
So we made a lot of modifications,[br]maybe close to 100 of them.

0:10:57.341,0:11:01.101
And this is how this guitar[br]was brought into this world,

0:11:01.102,0:11:03.391
out of holding your failure in your hands;

0:11:03.392,0:11:06.631
because sometimes when people tell you,[br]you're going to fail,

0:11:06.632,0:11:09.308
and you don't go to the quest,[br]that's one thing;

0:11:09.309,0:11:14.305
when you go to the guest[br]and you fail miserably, shame thee.

0:11:14.306,0:11:16.690
That's a whole different thing.

0:11:16.691,0:11:18.949
I want to show you[br]a quick tour of the guitar.

0:11:18.950,0:11:22.349
You already heard[br]some of the sounds that it produces.

0:11:22.350,0:11:27.544
So as you've seen, this guitar is[br]an embodiment of my musical journey.

0:11:27.545,0:11:31.434
It's the East and the West.[br]It's acoustic and electric.

0:11:31.435,0:11:36.190
It's the roots combined with the passion[br]for modern music and contemporary music.

0:11:36.191,0:11:41.160
So I can play anything from, you know,[br]stuff that is a bit more contemporary--

0:11:41.161,0:11:42.691
(Guitar music)

0:11:51.961,0:11:54.780
And I can play, you know,[br]all kinds of rock and roll stuff.

0:11:54.781,0:11:55.975
I can also--

0:11:55.976,0:11:59.704
The guitar is a fascinating instrument,[br]because you can play so many--

0:11:59.705,0:12:00.985
(Guitar music)

0:12:10.855,0:12:14.914
So many variations and with so many[br]accessories and peripherals.

0:12:14.915,0:12:18.404
And essentially, of course,[br]there is the bouzouki.

0:12:18.405,0:12:19.925
(Bouzouki music)

0:12:52.894,0:12:55.013
But something happened one day,

0:12:55.014,0:13:00.507
when I accidentally plugged[br]the wrong cable

0:13:00.508,0:13:03.507
to the wrong jack here in the guitar.

0:13:03.508,0:13:04.668
And...

0:13:05.515,0:13:07.505
I heard something something like that--

0:13:07.511,0:13:09.101
(Guitar music)

0:13:29.487,0:13:33.796
This is how a guitar sounds[br]through a bouzouki.

0:13:33.797,0:13:36.748
A sound that was never[br]there before in the world.

0:13:36.751,0:13:39.996
It wasn't possible[br]acoustically to produce,

0:13:39.997,0:13:44.376
because these two souls,[br]these two different cultures

0:13:44.377,0:13:47.647
now share one body as we all do.

0:13:47.664,0:13:51.254
We are all connected;[br]we know that, we feel that.

0:13:51.263,0:13:54.502
So now one can resonate through the other

0:13:54.503,0:13:57.933
and produce sounds[br]that were not possible before.

0:13:59.907,0:14:02.427
I want to ask you a question.

0:14:03.504,0:14:05.804
Are there butterflies in the desert?

0:14:07.270,0:14:10.600
Well, I introduced this question[br]to a lot of people,

0:14:10.604,0:14:14.673
actually hundreds of people[br]on the Internet,

0:14:14.674,0:14:17.423
and I asked this to them.

0:14:17.424,0:14:19.583
I'll tell you the statistics.

0:14:19.584,0:14:23.266
Most of you think[br]"there are no butterflies in the desert."

0:14:23.267,0:14:26.286
Some of you think, "Maybe, why not?"

0:14:26.287,0:14:32.849
Some say, a minority says,[br]"Yes. Why not? Why wouldn't there be?"

0:14:32.850,0:14:36.213
So I studied it and I researched it a bit.

0:14:36.214,0:14:40.496
And not only do butterflies[br]exist in deserts,

0:14:40.502,0:14:46.302
there are butterflies actually in each[br]and every desert on our planet.

0:14:46.325,0:14:50.284
And furthermore, butterflies are one[br]of the most diverse creatures

0:14:50.285,0:14:53.285
that there are in deserts[br]all around the planet.

0:14:54.357,0:14:55.986
And you'd think,

0:14:55.987,0:15:02.338
what would a beautiful colorful creature[br]representing freedom do in a wasteland,

0:15:02.341,0:15:08.781
in a place that has maybe no life in it[br]or has very little life in it?

0:15:08.782,0:15:12.492
And this is exactly the dualism[br]we're facing each and every day.

0:15:12.493,0:15:14.793
These are the misconceptions

0:15:14.794,0:15:19.293
that we are living about ourselves,[br]about everything that we do in life.

0:15:19.294,0:15:24.394
We think, we cannot be butterflies[br]in the desert, but there are actually.

0:15:24.998,0:15:28.287
Let me take you[br]to another desert: the Moon.

0:15:28.288,0:15:32.615
Did you know that when you leave[br]your footsteps on the Moon,

0:15:32.618,0:15:35.387
they are most likely[br]to last there forever?

0:15:35.388,0:15:38.237
Because essentially[br]there is no wind on the Moon,

0:15:38.238,0:15:41.378
so there's nothing[br]to wipe it off the surface.

0:15:42.756,0:15:45.322
Except a meteoric collision, of course...

0:15:45.323,0:15:48.322
but still, that would probably stay.

0:15:48.323,0:15:51.599
But I think we don't have[br]to go to the Moon

0:15:51.600,0:15:56.220
in order for our footsteps to resonate[br]here and to the next generations,

0:15:56.234,0:16:01.114
because I believe our foundations,[br]our roots, resonate in everything we do.

0:16:01.121,0:16:04.521
I know, my family, my father[br]and my grandfather's do,

0:16:04.522,0:16:05.991
in everything that I do

0:16:05.992,0:16:10.091
and I'm hoping that my foundations,[br]when the day comes,

0:16:10.092,0:16:15.453
will resonate, too, through everything[br]that my daughters, my children, will do.

0:16:15.454,0:16:20.921
So I believe that foundations[br]aligned with your passion

0:16:21.501,0:16:25.251
can essentially lead[br]to innovation and empowerment.

0:16:26.281,0:16:29.501
So I encourage you to go out there

0:16:29.508,0:16:33.167
and be the butterfly[br]you can be in your own desert.

0:16:33.168,0:16:34.366
Thank you.

0:16:34.369,0:16:36.109
(Applause)