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BPM Calculator

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Enter a tempo (BPM) to find the millisecond delay time for every common note division.

BPM Calculator

Live
Whole note2000 ms
Half note1000 ms
Quarter note (1 beat)500 ms
Dotted eighth note375 ms
Eighth note250 ms
Eighth note triplet166.67 ms
Sixteenth note125 ms
Useful for setting delay, echo, and LFO times to sync perfectly with a track's tempo.

The formula

Quarter note (ms) = 60,000 / BPM Every other division is a fraction or multiple of the quarter note: Eighth = Quarter / 2, Sixteenth = Quarter / 4, Half = Quarter x 2, Whole = Quarter x 4 Triplet = the note value / 3, Dotted = the note value x 1.5
Example

At 120 BPM: quarter note = 60,000/120 = 500ms, eighth note = 250ms, whole note = 2,000ms.

Step-by-step guide

  1. Enter your track's tempo in beats per minute.
  2. Read the millisecond time for whichever note division you need to sync a delay, echo, or LFO to.

Why syncing effects to tempo matters musically

An echo or delay effect set to a time that doesn't relate mathematically to the song's tempo tends to sound like noise or clutter rather than a musical element - the repeats land in between the beats instead of on them. Setting the delay time to an exact fraction of the beat (a dotted eighth, a triplet, a straight sixteenth) makes the repeats rhythmically locked to the track, which is why producers convert BPM to milliseconds rather than eyeballing a delay knob by ear.

Common mistakes

Confusing a triplet division with a dotted division - a triplet divides a note into three equal parts, while a dotted note extends a note by half its own value. They're not opposites of each other in a simple way.
Forgetting that "quarter note" always equals exactly one beat in standard time signatures - it's the anchor value every other division is calculated from.

Frequently asked questions

Does this work for any time signature?

Yes - BPM always refers to the beat itself (typically the quarter note in most popular music), so these millisecond values hold regardless of whether the song is in 4/4, 3/4, or another time signature.

What's a dotted eighth delay used for?

It's a classic setting for rhythmic guitar and synth delays (famously used in many well-known guitar riffs) because the off-beat timing creates a bouncing, syncopated echo pattern rather than a straight repeat.

How do I find the BPM of an existing song?

Most DAWs (music production software) can detect tempo automatically, or you can tap along to the beat using a tap-tempo tool to estimate it manually.

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