UPSB v3
Tricks & Combos / [project][1.31] Structural Stability
-
Date: Wed, Apr 21 2010 07:03:46
First a disclaimer: I've been studying combo and collab structures for a while now and looking for ways to enhance the visual appeal of a combo simply by organizing the tricks in the appropriate order. I don't believe structure has as big an impact as the quality of the tricks themselves, but I think implicitly it does have a non-negligible effect which remains largely unaccounted for. Furthermore, high level spinning often requires some degree of planning, which reveals the importance of structuring. Sometimes you hear people saying "I like your style"; I believe structure contributes to that. Since structure is a field which has yet to be studied properly, I believe there is potential for research.
The theory I am proposing has two purposes:
- First, it will attempt to explain common structure trends or patterns we observe in everyday spinning. This is the descriptive aspect.
- Second, by better understanding currently used patterns, we can derive new structures and reason about their effect. This is the normative aspect.
The following theory yet lacks strong evidence to support some of its propositions. Some of the points discussed may seem to have very weak impact on the appeal of a combo but bear in mind that structure itself as a whole is not a predominant aspect of pen spinning.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction
Structural stability is a term used to qualify certain elements of a combo (i.e. a section of a combo). An element is considered stable if visually it looks natural or comfortable or anticipated. On the other hand, an element is unstable if it is unnatural, tense or surprising. Furthermore, stability is a measurable value, in the sense that there are multiple degrees of stability; some elements can be more unstable than others. Finally, stability is a relative property; an element's stability depends on its context within a combo. Note that stability has no physical meaning; it does not refer to the likelihood of a pen to drop.
If you know music theory, consider the following comparison: once the scale of a song is established, it's often easy to predict where the melodic line will go. If the notes that sound right are being played, we consider them stable. If the following notes sound "weird" or "off", we consider them unstable. There are degrees of stability as some notes can be only slightly strange and others clearly wrong. But in the end, it's all relative to the scale used in the song and notes that are unstable in this song are actually stable in another one.
In pen spinning (and likewise for music), the following claims can be made about stability:
1. A combo tends to finish towards stability, bringing closure.
2. Moving "down" towards a more stable element generates release, relief.
3. Moving "up" towards a more unstable element generates tension.
You might have seen similar ideas in the "Asynchronous Spinning" article. In fact, for 2P2H asynchronism is considered instability while synchronism is stable.
The notion of stability can be used as a tool to guide the construction of a combo by playing with variation in stability and balancing it. Note that a combo which is entirely stable is not suitable. It will be too static, too "flat" and likely not generate any excitement. Think of basic plot structures; it always contain a conflict, which is similar to instability, which makes up the basis of the story. In music, there's almost always a section which is different from the rest of the song to give it variety. For instance, the basic Sonata Form contains a development which melodically is instable and used to enhance the appeal of the stable recapitulation that follows.
In pen spinning, the basic structure also look similar to those other arts where we begin at a stable point, go through a transitory unstable period and finish with a climax to stability. Stability-based combo creation would take into account the stability of the elements to be put in the combo such that the follow this basic pattern. Of course, future developments will allow us to develop more complex structures and observe its impact.
Positional stability
Now the question is, what's stable or not in pen spinning? Let's first look stability in pen position:
The most stable elements in pen spinning revolve around the natural writing position (NWP). Any trick or sequence that ends in the natural pen holder position is the most stable. I believe this is because historically pens have been used as writing instrument, so the writing position is the most common position a pen will be held in and we are accustomed to this. I am confident empirical data will show that the vast majority of combos will end in 12 or at the very least in the top half fingers of the hand. Although they might not be exactly ending in the NWP, any position which is similar to it should also be considered stable. We can therefore infer that if it is intended for a combo to end in stability, one should strive to finish as close as possible to the NWP. Furthermore, I would even argue that for single-capped mod, a combo ending in the NWP with the tip facing down (as a real pen would be held) looks better than a combo with the tip facing up, although this effect is not as strong. It can also be argued that holding the pen with the whole hand is also another strongly stable position much due to the same historical justification: a layman typically only hold a pen with his whole hand, or in NWP.
From this observation, we can see that the pen's position can dictate the stability of an element. The furthest the position is dissimilar from NWP, the more unstable it becomes. Imagine a combo ending in 34 palm-up. We would tend to expect that such a combo is not fully closed yet and anticipate the combo to continue. You can sometimes tell that someone missed the ending when the pen is not held in a strong stable position.
Now of course, this might not the ONLY way to define stability by position. In music, any note can be stable if the right scale is played. Perhaps there are ways to establish a different "mode" in a combo or by the finish trick such that the most stable position would NOT be the NWP. One example I have is ponkotu's R3 video. Because of the overabundance of body tricks, it would not have been expected for his combo to end in the NWP because the magnitude of his combo involved a larger set than his hand. Similarly, a combo which uses 2 hands a lot might establish a 2 handed catch as the most stable finishing position depending on the tricks used and the way the finish is set up.
Now note that most of this discussion revolved around the conclusion of the combo. This is because, according to our basic structure, a combo should resolve in stability. However, let's consider what would happen if the most stable position, NWP, is achieved in the middle of the combo. Because it is usually a good place to finish, you can use place this in a combo as a pause to either resume your combo or to simulate a "fake ending". I believe there is evidence that suggest that having a full stop at the NWP or in a similar position (with the pen resting 12 on top of T) is a popular option for restarting the combo (usually in the opposite rotation).
On the other hand, having elements which involve the lower part of the hand are more unstable. There seems to be a tendency for the pen to always want to go back up the hand when it's in the bottom fingers. Physiologically, the 34 are weaker fingers so it is natural to think that any element involving those fingers would be less stable. When there is an extended sequence involving 34 going on, there is always a sense of unease settling it which is relieved when the pen goes up; however when a combo stays a long time at the top of the hand you do not feel the same tension. It is a popular trend to use complicated linkages and hybrids involving 34 to create confusion and instability and then use more speed and fuller rotations to go back up to release it. This is justified by the natural tendency to resolve instability.
Rotational stability
If a combo contains a lot rotations that spin on the same axis, a "rotational mode" can be established. For instance, if the pen is always spinning palm-down/up facing the camera, then this mode is being established as stable. Any rotation which does not spin on the spin axis will therefore be unstable. If both palm-up/down and upright modes are used equally, the unstable rotations are restricted to slanted intermediary rotations between axis (ie. 45 degrees angle).
Looking at combos of spinners who like to use big rotations, such as Supawit127, we can see that he typically establishes a rotational mode parallel to the camera and uses "filler" tricks with orthogonal rotations to generate instability and "break" before resolving right back to his most stable form.
Trick family stability
Another factor contributing to stability is the family of tricks used. Over time, we have developed a standard repertoire of tricks and any element which involves those tricks will be more stable than unorthodox moves (the more unusual the trick, the more instable it is). In addition, a combo can establish stability by predominantly a limited set of trick families. By doing so, the occasional trick outside of those families will be unstable. The most common trick families used for instability are probably triangle passes and infinities.
Tempo stability
Similar to trick families and rotations, a regular rhythm can be established as stable, and any variation of speed can be instable.
There is surely other factors to stability that I have not listed yet, feel free to propose them.
Conclusion
The idea is to use stability as a guiding tool when creating a combo. By keeping a certain stability pattern in mind, one can use elements which will fit the stability requirements and ensure the combo will have enough variations in stability to be interesting structurally. It would be interesting to experiment with the stability patterns and see what happens if we use a different structure. -
Date: Wed, Apr 21 2010 13:29:42
We were discussing this earlier so you already know what I think but I'll post it here for the sake of discussion:
-I'm not really sold on the positional stability, I think it has more to do with the fact that it's harder to control tricks in the 34 region than in the thumb reason so they typically look worse, if well-executed any region is "stable" IMO
-I'm basically the one who suggestion rotational stability so of course I agree
-I'm undecided on trick and family, because sometimes if you see a combo with lots of the same family you think "theme" and other times you think "lack of variety"
-Tempo I agree with
Also, I notice you didn't mention/explain the idea of a hypothetical "force" pushing you back towards the stable zones, I think that's both an important aspect, and the easiest way to understand the concept -
Date: Wed, Apr 21 2010 14:28:22
2. Moving "down" towards a more stable element generates release, relief.
3. Moving "up" towards a more unstable element generates tension.
suggests the idea of force pulling towards stability and the fact that it's "harder" to go up than down -
Date: Wed, Apr 21 2010 14:31:00
Yeah I know it was kinda implied but if released I think it would benefit this article to have it more of a central theme, afterall it is kinda the basic idea, that something makes you "gravitate" towards stability.
Plus then it's just easier to understand too -
Date: Sat, Apr 24 2010 03:59:45
no other opinion??
-
Date: Mon, Apr 26 2010 23:32:15
Stability seems like a good guiding/learning tool for spinners. Something like a blue print that spinners can base/have their combos revolve around. Really well done job describing everything btw.
Though stability seems naturally ingrained to many combos.... so not sure how we'd directly apply it to spinning as it's already naturally built in.
I also prefer a state of instability over stability as a state of instability is more exciting as it keeps on their edge of their seat...and life's always funner on the edge, right? -
Date: Mon, Apr 26 2010 23:45:17
well first just being able to properly explain what happens in a combo in terms of structure is a plus. like you said as a learning tool thats good.
second, we know this is how it works now, but we can find out more about structure and see what happens in the future
i think just being aware of this concept empowers you. because now it gives you one more thing to think of that you can tweak or control when doing your combo. -
Date: Tue, Apr 27 2010 00:18:20
Yeah a smart spinner can recognize that "suspense" and use it to his/her advantage more directly