BPM to milliseconds: delay and reverb time calculator
Type a tempo and get every note length in milliseconds, straight, dotted and triplet, for setting delay times, reverb pre-delay and decay, compressor release and LFO rates by hand.
Free, no sign-up and nothing to download: it runs in your browser.
| Note | Straight | Dotted | Triplet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/1 | 2,000 ms0.5 Hz | 3,000 ms0.33 Hz | 1,333 ms0.75 Hz |
| 1/2 | 1,000 ms1 Hz | 1,500 ms0.67 Hz | 667 ms1.5 Hz |
| 1/4 | 500 ms2 Hz | 750 ms1.33 Hz | 333 ms3 Hz |
| 1/8 | 250 ms4 Hz | 375 ms2.67 Hz | 167 ms6 Hz |
| 1/16 | 125 ms8 Hz | 188 ms5.33 Hz | 83.33 ms12 Hz |
| 1/32 | 62.5 ms16 Hz | 93.75 ms10.67 Hz | 41.67 ms24 Hz |
The formula
One beat (a quarter note in 4/4) lasts 60,000 ÷ BPM milliseconds. Halve it for an eighth, halve again for a sixteenth. A dotted note is 1.5 times as long as the straight one; a triplet is two thirds as long. To turn a time into a rate, divide 1,000 by the milliseconds to get hertz.
Worked example at 120 BPM: a beat is 60,000 ÷ 120 = 500 ms. A dotted eighth is 250 × 1.5 = 375 ms, the classic dotted-eighth echo. An eighth-note triplet is 250 × 2/3 ≈ 166.67 ms. A 500 ms LFO cycle is 1,000 ÷ 500 = 2 Hz.
Where to use it
- Delay time on plug-ins or hardware with no tempo sync, or when you want a time slightly off the grid on purpose.
- Reverb pre-delay and decay set to a note value so the tail breathes with the groove.
- Compressor release and gate hold times that recover in time with the beat.
- LFO rates in Hz on synths that do not sync to the host.
Quarter and eighth notes at common tempos
| BPM | 1/4 | 1/8 | 1/8 dotted | 1/8 triplet | 1/16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | 1,000 | 500 | 750 | 333 | 250 |
| 70 | 857 | 429 | 643 | 286 | 214 |
| 80 | 750 | 375 | 563 | 250 | 188 |
| 90 | 667 | 333 | 500 | 222 | 167 |
| 100 | 600 | 300 | 450 | 200 | 150 |
| 110 | 545 | 273 | 409 | 182 | 136 |
| 120 | 500 | 250 | 375 | 167 | 125 |
| 128 | 469 | 234 | 352 | 156 | 117 |
| 140 | 429 | 214 | 321 | 143 | 107 |
| 150 | 400 | 200 | 300 | 133 | 100 |
| 160 | 375 | 188 | 281 | 125 | 93.75 |
| 174 | 345 | 172 | 259 | 115 | 86.21 |
The calculator covers 1/1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/32 notes. Times assume a quarter-note beat, which is what DAWs mean by BPM in 4/4 and most other time signatures.