That’s great. Another option would be, instead of doubling every 8th note, shift position down a scale step.
Great playing, really impressed with your progress, especially as DSX elbow/wrist comes most naturally for me as well.
How did you find the process of implementing forearm rotation to help with changing strings on an upstroke? Is this something you kind of did anyway?
Camera setup looks great, and sound is awesome.
Re: the lick, I find repeated notes in a phrase hard to synchronize as you get faster. They also can sound like mistakes even when you play them correctly, because repeating a note is a common synchronization mistake. Of course if you like the sound go for it.
For the purposes of testing out picking motion, using licks where every note is unique can be easier to hear / feel. As @kcyrowolf points out, shifts are great for getting rid of repeated notes.
Sure, this video was only for testing (but honestly I like playing this lick, I have an other one which falls into the same category, I’ll record that one too). Most of the things I play don’t include any repeated notes, so I’ll work on recording stuff today and tomorrow and post it here 
Thanks for the feedback.
Thanks you for your words. I do some kind of rotational movement when I’m doing descending stuff and the string change is on an upstroke, I’ll post more videos where it’s clearly visible. I try to do something similar on ascending runs but I think there’s a lot of swiping there and honestly, I don’t really care about swiping anymore, if it sounds ok.
Therein lies freedom! Good man.
!!! Long post warning !!! 
(I’ve decided to post multiple messages, I think it would be really hard to follow one super long post)
Here are videos with better audio quality and better camera angles. Unfortunately the lights are terrible on some videos as I’ve started recording yesterday and the sun went down after the first 2 clips I’ve recorded. Hopefully it’s still visible, if not, I’ll re-record them those licks. I’ve recorded the rest today with better natural light.
I did multiple repeats of most licks, so the chances of making mistakes is higher and hopefully they are more audible. An exception is the Universal mind lick, I couldn’t start from the beginning after a successful run as the upstroke string change always screws me over at the end and I felt like there’s no point repeating it. Recording “properly” made me feel anxious and I was in a panic mode, it’s also weird to hear the signal so clearly on the recording, but it’s the moment of truth I think
So let’s start with the things I’m struggling with.
I got inspired by @tommo’s Paul Gilbert cover, those group of 4 licks made me super jealous (in a positive way). I think it’s kind of similar to the Petrucci lick in the song “In the presence of enemies pt 1” which I’m struggling with and I’ve never attempted to practice it faster than 130 bpm. As I practice everything waaaaay faster recently thanks to the good folks here, I tried to push it and don’t care how it sounds, so here we go, that nasty lick, and my struggles. This is the way I’m practicing nowadays, lots of trial and error:
And the slowmo version:
Michael Angelo style licks
Today I tried the Michael Angelo style group of 4s, I’ve never tried them before, but I think they are in the same group as the lick above. I didn’t go crazy with the tempo, but I didn’t want to set the tempo below 160, as I want to find an efficient motion for fast tempos. The results are disappointing, but I hope I’ll get some advice on this.
4s loop lick:
Slowmo version:
Ascending 4s:
Slowmo version:
Ascending 4s starting with an upstroke:
Slowmo version:
Descending 4s:
Slowmo version:
Descending 4s, starting with an upstroke:
Slowmo version:
I tried starting both with an upstroke and downstroke, both feels like a chore 
Outside and inside picking 6s on 2 strings
This one doesn’t feel terrible but I couldn’t get a hang on the inside string change version.
Outside picking version:
Slowmo:
Inside picking version:
Slowmo:
The infamous Universal Mind lick. It breaks my picking hand and I become really tired after the last string change where I should start the lick over after the upstroke.
Slowmo:
My pentatonic lick struggles. Starting on an upstroke of course, otherwise I have no chance playing this.
Slowmo:
I feel my left hand is getting tired and it’s hard to keep up with the picking hand playing these type of licks.
This one starts with an upstroke too, I’ve posted it the other day but this video is better quality:
Slowmo:
Erotomania lick … super uneven string shifts and getting stuck when I have to jump from the high E to the D string all the time or from the G to the low E.
Take 1:
Take 1 slowmo:
Take 2:
Take 2 slowmo:
I also tried pushing it today, on 145 bpm, I couldn’t play the entire lick without failing.
145 bpm push:
145 bpm push slowmo:
Some Gilbert licks, I think they are half decent, except my arch enemy lick.
Ascending 6s run:
Ascending 6s run slowmo:
Ascending 6s run alternate version:
Ascending 6s run alternate version slowmo:
Descending 6s run:
Descending 6s run slowmo:
And the arch enemy lick. It’s very uneven, and I need a few secs in the beginning to get the feel of it and catch up with the tempo, but definitely an improvement. I couldn’t play it above 80 bpm 6s in the beginning of this month.
Arch enemy 6s:
Arch enemy 6s slowmo:
Some Petrucci inspired simple runs, I’m “okay” with them except the swipefest lick and the inside picking versions.
Ascending outside picking run:
Ascending outside picking run slowmo:
Descending inside picking run:
Descending inside picking run slowmo:
Inside picking loop:
Inside picking loop slowmo:
Outside picking loop:
Outside picking loop slowmo:
Swipefest loop:
Swipefest loop slowmo:
An other outside picking loop:
An other outside picking loop slowmo:
And some licks I like to play:
(Actually I don’t like to play this as I’ve always played with repeated last notes instead of position shifts, but now I’m practicing this too )
Descending run with no repeated notes:
Descending run with no repeated notes slowmo:
And with repeated notes (I like it, and I like the sound of it too):
Descending run with repeated notes slowmo:
Andy James 6s starting with an upstroke:
Andy James 6s starting with an upstroke slowmo:
Gilbert style ascending run with descending 6s on the top:
Gilbert style ascending run with descending 6s on the top slowmo:
My 3nps scale playing:
Ascending run:
Ascending run slowmo:
Descending run:
Descending run slowmo:
Damn, so much content! I heard all the clips and I’d say they’re very consistent and sound great, no issues that are glaring or don’t fall within “being human” (minute mistakes).
I think you most struggle (from my perspective) on the “inside loop sixes”, the pentatonic struggle lick, and when you push Erotomania. All in all really great playing though I think, definitely not a single person that would notice the “problems” in a recording, let alone band context live.
Trueeeee storyyyyyyyyyyyy!
I got through about half of them and went ‘welp, this is clearly beyond my ability to critique because it all sounds ‘fine’ to my ears!’
I say again, nice playing! Dont’ sweat the minutiae, and keep riffing. I can’t imagine very many amateur bands looking for players that would see this and go ‘nah dude can’t handle OUR noise!’ 
Very much agree with the points above. I think what I’d really like to see/hear is you putting all these skills into an actual piece, played in a mix.
You have all the skills in isolation and are getting to the stage where any feedback is almost pointless. I took a listen to some isolated Petrucci solos on YT the other day and all of the same ‘artifacts’ that you identify in your playing are there, especially when you slow the audio down.
One thing I always try to remember is - the sound of a naked guitar (especially one with no effects) is pretty ugly on its own, bit sit it in a mix and it sounds like heaven.
Thank you for checking them, yes it’s a lot of clips, so I appreciate you spent time on watching them. Any suggestions how to work on the 4 groupings and the erotomania stuff? Should I keep experimenting on these tempos and see if it clicks one day?
Thank you too for checking the clips. (Or half of them ) I’d still like to know how to work on my weaknesses and what is the best way to get confident playing those licks cleanly and not slow, so any advice is welcome.
I agree, the sound of the guitar is scary, but honest. I can’t think of a song on my bucketlist I’d be able to play right now and record, also, I’d need to find a good backing track or make one which is beyond my skillset at the moment 
