Apologies, this is gonna be long! TLDR: see videos and technical commentary below 
EDIT: Since the post generated some interest I tried to rewrite some parts avoiding the old DWPS/UWPS terminology, and only mentioning the path of the pick, I hope this is helpful!
The past year on the forum has motivated me to attack one of my all-time nemeses: that monster John Petrucci solo at the end of Dream Theaterâs Erotomania. I could never have approached this challenge without Cracking the Code!
Since âbetterâ is the enemy of âgoodâ, I want to share with you a couple of recordings of the solo and some technical commentary about them. This is not yet sounding exactly the way I want, but thatâll probably never happen! Also please note this is cherry-picked stuff, I donât even want to count the number of takes I attempted!
I hope this will be interesting for some of you and Iâd be very happy to get a technical discussion going and get some constructive feedback (please note I have medium-thickness skin 
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Performance 1
The first recording is probably my favourite take of the solo so far:
Performance 2
The second is done with stereo double tracking: the R and L channels are my favourite and second favourite takes respectively. The slight differences between the two make the tone fatter and kind of badass. And yes letâs be honest: some rough edges are smoothed in the process, because the two Tommos help each other out 
Technical Discussion: how I play the difficult stuff
For reference, I worked from David Escobarâs youtube transcription (Solo Of the Week: 11 Dream Theater - Erotomania tab - YouTube), but changed the fingerings in a few passages (more below).
For the most part, I try to use my default speed picking technique which is based on escaped downstrokes and trapped upstrokes (UWPS in the old terminology). Of course, to play some passages I have to occasionally transition to escaped upstrokes (DWPS in the old terminology) - so overall my technique is what we used to call two-way pickslanting. However, due to the speed of this piece I have tried to limit the number of transitions by using re-fingerings, swiping and the occasional pulloff.
Now for some crazy level of detail:
0:19-0:23 here we have several licks with one bass note followed by a string skip and a descending scale chunk. Starting with downstroke and using my standard escaped-downstroke motion I can clear the string skip, but then I make no conscious effort to clear the string changes in the descending scale - I just make sure that the left hand is muting properly in case some swipes happen.
0:23-0:26 here we have a descending + ascending scale where I make an effort to clear all the string changes (two-way pickslanting), then we go into a bunch of ascending fours on 2 strings, where I think my hand reorients itself towards a neutral/escaped upstrokes setup, and I am almost sure that I am using significant amounts of swiping - again Iâm counting on the left hand to mute and keep things clean!
0:26-0:35 at the start of the neoclassical part I quickly reorient the picking trajectory to escaped downstrokes, then maintain this picking path throughout. I recently realised that I am not playing this bit in the same way as Petrucci does (I think he inserts a rapid double-picked note before each trill) - but this more or less gives the correct effect.
0:36 I am happy with how the vibrato came out 
0:41-0:43 here I rearranged the lick to have less dramatic position shifts with the left hand: the third lick, which David Escobar plays on the A and D strings, I moved to the E and A strings.
0:43-0:45 The bass notes are decently chunky but I wish I had articulated the last one a bit better and I wish I had hit that power chord with more attitude.
0:46-0:47 Here I rearranged a lick so that it can be played with only escaped downstrokes - it feels like butter
G-----------------------7~
D--------------5-7-8-10---
A--5-7-8-5-7-8------------
E-8-----------------------
0:48-0:49 here my muting failed I let the open A string ring - sob
0:49-0:51 it is very hard to combine these scalar runs (which are perfect for escaped downstrokes) with decent-sounding vibrato in this very short amount of time available! I converted the second vibrato into a sort of bend to avoid making my life too hard (and I hae the impression that this is what JP also does in the studio recording).
0:51-onwards The skip 5s lick remains my weakest point. The speed (exactly 13 notes per second) is not far from my max on a single string, and some of the double string skips make it very hard to keep time (in fact, it is obvious by looking at the waveforms in my recording that the last note before a string skip tends to be a bit longer). I am aware that my time fluctuates in this part, although the overall effect is still ok I hope.
I am picking almost everything and trying to clear all the string changes, although there may well be some swipes. I cheat a little by inserting pulloffs in some ascending figures, to make them more comfortable for my primary escaped-downstroke picking motion. Essentially I avoid the âascending insideâ string change. See for example the passage around 0:59
G-----------------------------------------9-10-12-10p9-- etc...
D----------------------------12-10-9-10-12--------------
A---------------8-10-12-10p8----------------------------
E-12-10-8-10-12-----------------------------------------
Well, thank you to anyone who read until here! I thought for now Iâd close with a silly survey. Both videos are unlisted but I may publish one or both in the next few days 
Which recording sounds better?
- the single take
- the double-tracking
0 voters
