UPSB v4 Archive | Good pen spinning combination structure

Pen spinning has been described as an art, in which case there has to be some trick order structure. Like music, pen spinning has a beginning and an end. Music makes a point, whatever theme it presents, while pen spinning expresses a fluidity in movement. Often times we find ourselves filming for whatever purpose and we look back on it and find it to be awfully structureless, otherwise there is no apparent flow in it, no clear focus. What is the flow, or structure, of a combo that makes it "good"? I've noticed that the combos I like typically are short, usually between 8 to 16 seconds. There's usually a unique intro, opening with a twisted sonic and a twist of the wrist, lalala. then there's a build-up to the sudden change of direction (often associated with the t1 charge -> fl ta rev), the intensity filling the viewers head as the spinner approaches the end of the combo (often the climax) and shows off the finesse the spinner has worked their asses off to attain.

You are right about varying intensity as a main structural component. In fact, I would argue that variation in general is the main appeal of combos from a structural point of view. Combos which are too "static" tend to be boring unless they are short. However, to amplify the effect of variety, you need a "point fixe", an anchor if you will, that stabilizes the combo and constitutes a baseline from which variations in the combo are detected. For example, a spinner like Supawit127 often fixes the rotation of his combos to a single direction (eg CW). Then the variations come at the level of difficulty, pen position relative to finger slots, and tempo. ------------ We can also borrow techniques from other arts. The idea of climax and build-ups are nothing new; you can observe them in literature and music. I've derived an equivalent for pen spinning which I call "structural stability". It was an old RD article which was previously unreleased. http://www.upsb.info/wiki/index.php?title=Structural_stability A somewhat related article I wrote discussed the concept of "dissonance" (from music) and how it can be applied in asynchronous spinning: http://www.upsb.info/wiki/index.php?title=Asynchronous_Two-Handed_Spinning ------------ Another way to have fun with structures is to define systems. These systems are rules that dictate how you should construct your combo. They allow you to break out of your current patterns to explore new ideas. An old one I made was serialism: http://www.upsb.info/wiki/index.php?title=Serialism which you can use if you want to learn how to vary finger positions. I'm releasing another previously unreleased article on the subject of combo transformation, which defines systemic processes for taking existing combos and modifying them to give them certain properties. http://www.upsb.info/wiki/index.php?title=Combo_transformation Hope these references help.

UPSB v4

Presentation / Good pen spinning combination structure