How the fire hits the drop

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How the fire hits exactly on the drop: big shows often run on timecode, a clock that can ride on a spare audio channel and that lights, video, lasers and pyro all follow – but a crew member still arms the fire with a key.

The clock says when the fire goes. A person with a key says whether.

Facts

  • Many big shows run on SMPTE timecode, a clock written as hours:minutes:seconds:frames (24, 25, 29.97 or 30 frames a second). As linear timecode (LTC) it is an audio signal – 80 bits per frame, a “jarring and distinctive noise” – so it can ride on one channel of the soundtrack while the music goes to the speakers.
  • Lights, lasers, video and pyro can all follow it: MA Lighting's grandMA3 console takes SMPTE, MIDI or Art-Net timecode (up to eight signals at once), Pangolin's BEYOND laser software takes MIDI, SMPTE and Art-Net timecode, and COBRA's 18R2 pyro controller fires to 1/100 of a second, with up to 3,600 cues.
  • Kaskade and deadmau5's Kx5 show at the LA Coliseum (10 December 2022, over 46,000 fans) was timecoded down to the drones and special effects after about two weeks of programming in Denver, with pyro hits in every song. Flame units on the delay towers kept the deck up there warm, so the crew didn't need a heater.
  • DJs who mix live can still drive a timecoded show: TC Supply's ShowKontrol reads Pioneer DJ PRO DJ LINK players and sends LTC, MTC and Art-Net timecode (Jax Jones' 2020 tour ran its video servers from it), and the open-source Beat Link Trigger links CDJs to lights, video and lasers. Not every show is timecoded: on Subtronics' 2024 Tesseract tour the stage manager calls or operates the console for six flame units.
  • The fire still needs a person. COBRA says its firing system meets NFPA requirements for a key-operated switch and several actions to arm and fire, can be set to stop firing if the timecode is lost, and offers a deadman lever that pauses the script the moment it is released. MAGIC FX's arm controller arms flame units with a key and adds an e-stop. In the US, flame effects before an audience follow NFPA 160; in the EU, category T2 stage pyrotechnics are only for persons with specialist knowledge.
  • At MDLBEAST SoundStorm '21 outside Riyadh, ER Productions ran 80 flame heads and 11,000 pieces of pyro across one site, added stadium flames whose remote arm controller “offers more operator safety”, and described “smashing the cues one after the other, bang on time”.

Sources

  1. SMPTE timecode · Wikipedia checked 9 October 2026
  2. Linear timecode · Wikipedia checked 9 October 2026
  3. grandMA3 User Manual 2.1: Timecode · MA Lighting checked 9 October 2026
  4. BEYOND: TimeCode · Pangolin checked 9 October 2026
  5. COBRA SMPTE · COBRA Firing Systems checked 9 October 2026
  6. COBRA 18R2 Controller · COBRA Firing Systems checked 9 October 2026
  7. COBRA Deadman Control · COBRA Firing Systems checked 9 October 2026
  8. SFX Safety Arm Controller · MAGIC FX checked 9 October 2026
  9. SFX Safety E-stop · MAGIC FX checked 9 October 2026
  10. ShowKontrol LIVE · TC Supply checked 9 October 2026
  11. ShowKontrol CLUB · TC Supply checked 9 October 2026
  12. Beat Link Trigger User Guide: SMPTE Linear Timecode · Deep Symmetry checked 9 October 2026
  13. Beat Link Trigger (README) · Deep Symmetry checked 9 October 2026
  14. Kx5 at the LA Coliseum: A History Making Evening (Michael S. Eddy, 10 Feb 2023) · PLSN checked 9 October 2026
  15. Subtronics Tesseract Tour (Mike Wharton, 15 Apr 2024) · PLSN checked 9 October 2026
  16. Deorro (2 Aug 2022) · PLSN checked 9 October 2026
  17. The Chainsmokers “World War Joy” Tour (Steve Jennings, 12 Jan 2020) · PLSN checked 9 October 2026
  18. Really Creative Media live with Jax Jones (20 Apr 2020) · PLSN checked 9 October 2026
  19. MDLBEAST: SoundStorm '21 (Debi Moen, 3 Mar 2022) · PLSN checked 9 October 2026
  20. Effects Heat Up Romeo & Juliet (Bryan Reesman, 15 Dec 2013) · PLSN checked 9 October 2026
  21. Directive 2013/29/EU on pyrotechnic articles, Articles 3 and 6 · EUR-Lex checked 9 October 2026

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Script

How does the fire hit exactly on the drop? Big shows often run on one clock: timecode. Hours, minutes, seconds, frames. It can ride on a spare audio channel. It sounds like this. Lights, video, lasers and fire can all read it. Each effect waits for its frame. Kaskade and deadmau5's Coliseum show: about two weeks of programming, pyro in every song. Mixing live? Software can read the decks and make the clock. But the clock can't fire alone. A crew member arms it with a key. Some rigs add a deadman lever: let go, and the firing pauses. Key on. Lever held. The clock hits the frame.

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Sources last checked 9 October 2026.