@Jburd77 mind posting some?
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This sounds like pretty hard picking to me. It blows my mind how they get such snap and volume out of the guitar acoustically.
Iām not sure I agree - I mean, maybe I just pick abnormally hard, but that doesnāt sound all THAT unusually loud to me, and in particular the Taranto clip it sounds like you can hear the strings slapping against the frets in some of those legato runs louder than the pick attacks in a few places.
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Sounds like Stephen is playing on a combination of lighter strings and / or downtuned a bit and / or a pick with a good amount of flex, which is giving him that snap youāre hearing. Wes sounds like thin picks, and I wouldnāt be surprised if this isnāt his fastest playing by how hard heās hitting here (also heās not playing very fast IMO). Hedras you can hear the dynamic difference between the fast parts (not picking too hard) and the hard picking in the bluesy-jazz line near the end, and is a good example of what Iām trying to convey.
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I guess for me it sounds unusually hard because I CANNOT get my accents to be that loud and snappy and crisp. Do you guys have anything specific you work on for this? And like rotjab said, how do you accent that crisp and maintain ease in the picking hand?
I think the answer may be different depending on the various details of the playerās technique. If you feel like it, you can make another Technique Critique thread showing what happens when you try to play with the desired accenting & pick attack. Happy to take a look 
PS: probably best to choose a simple enough pattern where all the other elements (string changes, fretting and whatnot) feel comfortable to you.
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If Iām understanding this correctly (as a beginner at this stuff!):
If you hold the pick lightly it moves through/over the string with little displacement resulting in a softer sound.
If you hold the pick hard and press it hard against the string it moves through the string with more displacement resulting in a louder sound.
The other aspect is pick depth: I tried with both minimal and maximal pick depth. This seems to produce the same dynamic, but Iām wondering how this changes the sound? The string runs over a greater length of the pick which I assume must have an effect.
Iām interested not just in the speed element but in the more subtle aspects of picking.
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I think itās both! In the first clip I suspect heās more warmed up as he is mid-way through a concert whereas the second clip is filmed for a VHS/DVD, probably lots of stopping and starting, smoke breaks, playing slow examples etc.
Iāve noticed in my own playing when I first pick up the guitar I have to struggle through my warm up exercises but as the session goes on I can play them WAY more comfortably and aggressively
That being said, I think Yngwieās set up helps accentuate the percussiveness of his sound so even when heās not as warmed up, his notes still have a pronounced attack. A few things to consider if youāre after that sound:
DOD Style OD - I recently switched back to my YJM Fender OD from my Boss SD1 and the notes really pop out in comparison.
Scalloped Neck - Tried his signature strat once and the scalloped neck made everything sound a lot more articulate, felt like I had been practicing for 3 extra years
Thumb Movement - Using my thumb to help initiate the downstroke helps increases my picking attack with minimal extra effort
Small things on their own but added together I think they can make a big difference 
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Yes I have found this also - the accumulation of a lot of little things that add up to sounding like Yngwie.
I have found that his baseline top speed is faster than mine. I REALLY have to redline it to play a lick as fast as Yngwie which makes the challenge of sounding like him - at the speed he plays - quite difficult. However playing at 80% of his speed - light or heavy - is much more achievable for me. And I can sound quite like him at this lower speed.
I suspect he does indeed play with a light touch and at times more heavily depending on the situation including - as you say - how warmed up he is.
In the video @Twangsta posted earlier you can really see how easily he hits phenomenal speed just messing around in between questions in the interview.
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Iām exactly the same, at the moment my goal for the past couple of months has been to get the YJM six note pattern to 120bpm 16th note triplets akin to the Jet to Jet solo intro. On a REALLY good day I can do it but itās a struggle!
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Fantastic example! Yngwie does that solo intro with ease! And just nails it each time live.
By the way there is a lot of incorrect transcriptions of that into for some reason.
My view is I want to get one lick exactly right before I move on - I would rather play one lick correctly first.
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Does that sound light to you? 
listen to that articulate rhythmical tremolo picking on one noteā¦ You try and do that as finesse with that type of soft articulate dynamic into a louder then softer incredibly gifted and talented at such a young age. I bet Van Halen pissed himself when he saw him.
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Ha! Brilliant - so I think the answer to whether Yngwie picks hard or light is : āyesā.
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