Delay time calculator
BPM to ms
Enter your song's tempo to get the length of every note value in milliseconds and hertz. Select any time to copy it.
| Note | Straight | Dotted | Triplet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/1Whole note | |||
| 1/2Half note | |||
| 1/4Quarter note | |||
| 1/8Eighth note | |||
| 1/16Sixteenth note | |||
| 1/3232nd note | |||
| 1/6464th note |
Reverb to the beat
Pre-delay
- 1/64 note31.25 ms
- 1/128 note15.63 ms
Decay, so the tail ends in time
- Tight: quarter note468.8 ms
- Short: half note968.8 ms
- Medium: one bar1969 ms
- Long: two bars3969 ms
Converters
Which tempo fits a delay time?
375 ms is a dotted eighth at 120 BPM.
How the times are worked out
One beat (a quarter note in 4/4) lasts 60,000 ÷ BPM milliseconds: 500 ms at 120 BPM. Each row of the table halves the one above. A dotted note is half as long again (× 1.5) and a triplet fits three notes in the space of two (× 2/3). The hertz figure is 1000 ÷ ms, which is what a synced LFO, tremolo or auto-pan rate dial wants.
For a delay that sits in the groove, start with the dotted eighth or the quarter note; the dotted eighth gives the rolling echo heard on a lot of guitar parts. Many delay plugins can sync to the host tempo, but hardware pedals, older plugins and tap-tempo buttons often need the number in milliseconds.
The reverb figures are a rule of thumb, not a law: a short pre-delay of a 1/64 or 1/128 note keeps the dry attack clear, and a decay that ends before the next quarter note, half note or bar stops the tail from smearing into what comes next. Shorten them for busy mixes and trust your ears over the table.
Questions
What is a dotted eighth delay at 120 BPM?
375 ms. An eighth note at 120 BPM is 250 ms, and the dot adds half again: 250 × 1.5 = 375 ms. As a rate that is about 2.67 Hz.
Does the time signature change these numbers?
No. Note values only depend on the tempo, as long as the BPM counts quarter notes, which is how DAWs and most delay units count it. Only the "one bar" reverb figure assumes four beats per bar.
Can I use decimals, like 92.5 BPM?
Yes. Type any tempo from 20 to 300 with up to two decimals, or tap the beat with the Tap button. The table shows two decimals for times under 100 ms, and the CSV download keeps three.