Cake Pairings

[d_vova]

What cakes do you like to pair and why?

[Rick_In_Tampa]

I don't normally pair cakes like I believe you are referring to. I always shoot two of the same cakes together though. I generally buy cakes that have effects that have tails or are fans so they do a good job of filling the sky. By shooting at a time I can really fill the space, and if one misfires, I still have something in the air.

[Engineer Cat]

When I'm trying to create my quasi pyromusical I just try to match up whatever cake to the music. So if have 2 or 3 cakes going at a time it's really just whatever works best with the music at that time. I focus more on the timing of each shot in the cake to see if it fits with highs and lows in the music.

That's a great question though because I realize when I watch peeps shows that don't shoot to music, it takes a different effort to amuse the audience.

[d_vova]

I don't normally pair cakes like I believe you are referring to. I always shoot two of the same cakes together though. I generally buy cakes that have effects that have tails or are fans so they do a good job of filling the sky. By shooting at a time I can really fill the space, and if one misfires, I still have something in the air.

Yes, I am referring to firing two or more different cakes at once, like saturn missiles and flying fish, low brocades and high horse tails, holiday themed zipper cake that shoots colorful comets and shells.

Since I started playing with fireworks a couple years ago, I haven't really had any issues with cakes to need redundancy. So far I only had two issues:
1. One cake (out of several hundred) had a defect and fired only half of its shots. I think 99.8% is fairly reliable for consumer fireworks in a neighborhood display.
2. I tried to fire multiples of the same cake using Cobra quickplug breakout boards and they didn't work. But that's a hardware problem, poor design and loose connections.

I tend to fire multiples of 200g cakes to fill the sky and increase intensity.

[d_vova]

When I'm trying to create my quasi pyromusical I just try to match up whatever cake to the music. So if have 2 or 3 cakes going at a time it's really just whatever works best with the music at that time. I focus more on the timing of each shot in the cake to see if it fits with highs and lows in the music.

That's a great question though because I realize when I watch peeps shows that don't shoot to music, it takes a different effort to amuse the audience.

I have been thinking of adding music to my displays but the performance of consumer fireworks is so inconsistent that I didn't think it would really work.

To amuse my audience, I have been playing around with effects, angles, pace, and height. This is why I am interested to know what people do.

[Salutecake]

So I basically do what Rick_In _Tampa does. the one show in particular I do, has 4 four position on land and another 4 on water. So the 4 on water are dedicated to 1.3 shells. No cakes on the docks, (lesson learned0 1.4 or 1.3 cakes can and will catch fire and it's becomes a hassle to grab a boat and zip out to put a fire out. So for land, a lot of 1.4 cakes come in cases of 4 and 1.3 in cases of 2, so they get paired up that way Depending, on the show, the pairing might be, 1 on each end, 2 in the middle, and somethings all 4 right across the 4 positions.
For me cakes, 1.4 or 1.3 are pretty hard to incorporate into a musical (especially if your looking at timing stuff) , but there are some cakes that you make work for you. So instead of cakes I'll try to add slices and different articles. This year my son set up, I think they were Dominator pro line strobes, perhaps spread out about 6 across and set those to music, a lot of beats in the music so they paired up with all the flashing that was goin on.
My best suggestion, is to watch a lot of the vids posted here, if you see something you like, ask.

[PyroWalker]

I have 3 main cake positions for my pyromusicals. I usually shoot a left, right, and center. I also have a left, right, center setup for slices. I have 5 front positions for one-shots, fountains, flames, etc. I have 1-3 "artillery" positions behind the cakes depending on the design of my show where I shoot my mortar racks.
As for pairing cakes: Usually I have one unique center going with 2 on the side that compliment. OR I have 2 on left/right that are pairs. Sometimes I have all three positions going with the same effect to fill the sky. All of this depends on the music.
Some pairings that are "eye-pleasing" might include a L/R pair of solid color breaks with a zipper or fan in the middle. My July Pyromusical I used the song "Wolves" By Sam Tinnez and I had red cakes going in my L/R positions and red slices and fan cakes going in the center. These were timed to match the beat of the music and it worked beautifully. Here is some cell phone video footage that kind of gives you an idea. (It was super smokey and my HD camera setup looks awful.) https://youtube.com/shorts/m3jyzlFf68o?feature=share

Another option I like to use is to have 2 identical fan/zipper cakes going at the same time in the L/R position. This really fills the sky, and depending on the effect, it can build suspense, which I then break with some big willows or brocades over the top. Hope this helps!

[MontanaMike]

Another option I like to use is to have 2 identical fan/zipper cakes going at the same time in the L/R position. This really fills the sky, and depending on the effect, it can build suspense, which I then break with some big willows or brocades over the top. Hope this helps!

That's pretty much what I do. We have 9 positions spread out over about 200 feet or so. I'll put zippers on the ends, and fill in the middle with something that has chrysanthemums, or sometimes I'll use a cluster of about 100 roman candles in the middle while some higher effects are going off on the sides. Then occasionally I'll have four or six identical cakes all spread across, so you vary it from being two different effects to all the same effect.

I always try to have all the cakes on the left side facing "toward the audience" and the ones on the right facing "away," that way the effects are mirrored. Then you can have a couple rounds that are all facing the same way, so you get some variety from that too.

Or I'll put two zippers right in the middle, but have one of them turned backwards.

In other words - possibilities are as limited as your imagination really.

It's pretty hard to recommend specific products here because people buy from such a variety of suppliers.

[esgrillo]

I like to pair cakes with a low effect and high effect to fill the sky vertically and also do similar with left to right. Low cake left and right and something taller in the middle. I always mirror left and right with the same cakes. I daisy chain cakes together almost all the time to conserve cues and also to change how they look. When you fast fuse 10 200g bump bear it has a totally different look than a single. I combine bump bear with whacky tobacky to start my finale every year for example. Bushy comets and peonies are also a good one. You'll see that combo in my recent shows.

Regarding the use of consumer cakes in pyro musicals. We all use them and a lot of these shows are pretty damn good. All you need to do is poke the cakes. having them start at the precise time is all you need to worry about. You'll typically be overlapping anyway so the fact they do not end precisely at the same time is not a big deal. Single shots are your friend in pyro musicals however.

Look at a lot of videos and ask what product they are using when you see something you like. I do it all the time.

[PG2159]

[QUOTE=esgrillo;76961]. When you fast fuse 10 200g bump bear it has a totally different look than a single. /QUOTE]

is that all bump bear shoot simultaneously, or consecutively?

[esgrillo]

[QUOTE=esgrillo;76961]. When you fast fuse 10 200g bump bear it has a totally different look than a single. /QUOTE]

is that all bump bear shoot simultaneously, or consecutively?

Simultaneously. I fast fuse sets of 10 together and have 3 of these sets of 10 on my left center and right platforms to extend the effect time to about 35 seconds. Total of 90 200g cakes.

[Scotty Rockets]

I don’t really pair “cakes”. I’ll mirror cakes across the front and often times I will fire individual rows or singles within the cakes for precision. They’re some nice effect combinations such as nishiki willows with horsetails.

[morrison2951]

I combine 200g cakes with 500g cakes to layer the effects in the sky.

It's also a great budget saver by using more of the lower cost 200g cakes.

[mguerra]

Flood Red with Western Sky see 9:25 in this video.
https://youtu.be/WqqP7Y2f4tU
.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqqP7Y2f4tU