gOODT!

The scalpel picking I think should be at 4-5 o'clock...if I am seeing it correctly...which is about the same as say wrist picking. The pick should be doing a 45 degree angle at most...to the strings. Anything more creates pick noise...scraping along the strings as you pick.

The Sarod movement is one of those things where you have to find where you are comfortable holding the pick....the degree of angle with respect to the strings. The standard degree..45.....which would be around 4-5 o'clock....is kinda where you start until you get the feel.
As far as it being ok to have different degrees with both techniques. Its kinda starnge you mentioned it because...for me....with scalpel there is a sort of solid angle I am comfortable with. Sarod on the other hand is such a blend with different techniques that I can actually move the pick around.....the placement of the pick in my fingers....while I play....changing the angle as well. Its a really great technique!
For the question.....try staying with the basics...same 4-5o'clock angle just to start. After a while you can experiment with different angle...ect. Over years you will get the feel of where you should be with respect to tone(angle of the pick)

The circular motion....ala Malmsteen....I guess could be one solution to the technique. But until the years are spent practicing it.....it may be just a phase of development with it. I tried the circular motion before......it cant keep up with the Sarod so finally I went into what I call Marker Notes....in the Sarod vids.

Digging in is how I warm up. It warms up my forearms and gets my in sync with the technique, especially if I didnt get a chance to practice for a while. After about ohhh half an hour or so I am warmed up and can use a lighter touch with the pick.

For Sarod...playing slow is going to be the challenge. Playing fast is going to be easy....makesure you can do both.
Practice on one string only with Sarod...to ensure you have the movement down. Then venture out to Alternate picking across the strings. Same when you start doing the Hybrid.

The best advice I can give you at this point of your playing is to practice each...Sarod and scalpel......separately until you have command of them on there own. It took me seven years to get a blend for my own balance with the technique. Its a very VERY VERY powerful technique under your belt but is also a very VERY delicate technique to learn. Its ALL about balance and you must practice each separately until you think you may have the idea...then shoot us a video before you blend. VERY important!

Look at the Sarod thread on here....that should give a general idea about the blend.

As far as noise control...daming/muting.....I am/was getting there with Sarod. Its a bit tricky, at least for me. My balance gets thrown off but have made some progress. No conclusions yet.....

As far as one set of fingerings...do you mean...position 12 versus position 10.....?

I like the even numbered potions...3 nps.
But yeah..Ii know them all. The hard thing is to be fluent at the odd positions...the ones where the second string has 2 notes and the rest have 3 notes. But...there are ways to practice this type of pattern in order to be fluent with them all. For now try to be fluent with all 14 positions. Writting them out 10x a day each will help for sure. Mechanically is just the number of hours a day you practice them.

Your correct....
14 pos system is the step to hardcore-ism. The patterns DO NOT CHANGE...they are formulated and once you have memorized them...you are done...just move them around like you say.

3 hours...gooodt!!!!!!!

After a while....a month or so doing 3 hrs/day on each....something strange happened to me.....

I started thinking that the patterns were say....embedded on a rolling pin...and as I practiced my runs....it felt as though all I had to do was roll out the patterns on the fret board...like a rolling pin.

I didnt have to memorize the patterns at all....second nature....and my left hand was already completely trained to regurgitate the pattern at will.

idk...my oddball 2 cents thrown in...
:)

Right on!!

Goodt advice!

For practice purpose...keep it curved in.

For the F$%K of it...think out of the box and plant it on the first string..2nd string...ect.
Hit the note and try to Spider cleanly...allowing the note to ring as long as you can.

Pebber is right...

Trills help too...

Something is off as far as your position...
Ity sounds as if something is hitting....barely....the vibrating string.
Maybe your thumb is too close to the string and barely touching the string....or you are touching the string somehow with the pick just before you strike the string.
In any case thats what I hear...
I think it is more of a position of you pick/thumb than a problem with your set up. I could be wrong because .....maybe your strings are set in a strange way were there is too much ...slack...and causing the noise.
Just my thoughts.

Check your string set up or maybe how you wound your strings when changing them...they may need adjusting....then try it again.

Oh sheeet!!
When I was hardcore practicing in my youth...
My fricking dog took a bite out of my left hand pointer and middle finger. Right on the fucking tips!!!
Doc had to stitch my tips of my fingers back on putting me out of commission for 4 months!
I know how you feel man....just bare through it and dont push you healing time. I tried to push my healing time and felt my tips sliding....eeww...hehe...lol.

Just take it easy and let the docs figure out what to do.

good luck!

FRaKh

Most are out visiting family for the holidays or going crazy with the daily practice....:)