Definition
A delay is the deliberate interval introduced between two pyrotechnic events. It exists in chemical form, with slow-burning compositions placed between the shots of a candle, between the tubes of a cake or in the time fuse of a shell (burst delay, which sets the flight time before opening, often 2 to 5 seconds depending on calibre); and in electronic form, in the firing plan, where each cue is given a trigger time to the hundredth of a second. Electronic delay makes musical synchronisation possible: for a 150 mm shell to break on a beat, it is fired roughly three seconds earlier. Supplier catalogues list the rise time of each reference, a figure the pyrotechnician corrects from experience according to batch, mortar and temperature.
In practice, for the display company
Every pyromusical rests on mastering delays: rise time per calibre, ignition delay of a cake, response time of the system. PyroDesk stores the rise time on each product sheet and applies it automatically in the timeline, so you place the burst on the music and the software moves the firing order earlier; PyroSimulator checks the result.