Definition
In professional French, batterie means two related things: by extension the cake itself (a “battery of tubes”), and more precisely the single-shot battery, a set of tubes each firing one effect, assembled by the pyrotechnician or delivered pre-mounted, where every tube can be ignited separately. Unlike a cake whose internal fusing fixes order and rhythm, a single-shot battery lets the firer choose the angle of each tube, the instant of each shot and the combination of effects. It is built from mines, comets or bombettes of 30 to 75 mm, mounted on a wooden frame or a rack, each tube receiving its own e-match. It is the tool of custom-drawn sequences and musical synchronisation to the tenth of a second.
In practice, for the display company
A single-shot battery consumes as many cues as it has tubes: thirty tubes, thirty igniters, thirty module outputs. PyroDesk tallies the cues needed as the firing plan grows, distributes tubes across racks and flags when a module is full; PyroSimulator shows the angled fans tube by tube to validate the drawing before rigging.