A delay that echoes in time, an LFO that pumps with the song, an envelope that dies away before the next beat: all of them need the length of a note value. The calculator takes a tempo in BPM and gives the duration of every note value from a whole note down to a thirty-second, plain, dotted and as a triplet, along with the matching LFO frequency. Times are in seconds; the three decimal places are the milliseconds. Use “Tap” to tap along with a song and find its tempo.
Converts a tempo into milliseconds, for a delay that echoes in time for instance. You can tap along to a song with “Tap”.
In the generator Step sequencer: BPM · Delay: time · LFO: frequency · Envelope: decay, release
| Note | plain | dotted | triplet | LFO |
|---|
Times in seconds, LFO in Hz (one cycle per note value). Highlighted: the sixteenth, which is one sequencer step. BPM = quarter notes per minute. The formula: quarter = 60 / BPM, dotted × 1.5, triplet × 2/3.
BPM (beats per minute) counts quarter notes per minute. A quarter note therefore lasts 60,000 ms divided by the tempo, exactly 500 ms at 120 BPM. All other note values are multiples of it:
At 120 BPM that makes 250 ms for an eighth note, 375 ms dotted and 166.7 ms as a triplet. An LFO at 2 Hz completes one cycle per quarter note.
| BPM | Quarter | Eighth | Sixteenth | Dotted eighth | Eighth triplet | Bar (4/4) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | 1,000 | 500 | 250 | 750 | 333.3 | 4,000 |
| 70 | 857.1 | 428.6 | 214.3 | 642.9 | 285.7 | 3,428.6 |
| 80 | 750 | 375 | 187.5 | 562.5 | 250 | 3,000 |
| 90 | 666.7 | 333.3 | 166.7 | 500 | 222.2 | 2,666.7 |
| 100 | 600 | 300 | 150 | 450 | 200 | 2,400 |
| 110 | 545.5 | 272.7 | 136.4 | 409.1 | 181.8 | 2,181.8 |
| 120 | 500 | 250 | 125 | 375 | 166.7 | 2,000 |
| 128 | 468.8 | 234.4 | 117.2 | 351.6 | 156.3 | 1,875 |
| 130 | 461.5 | 230.8 | 115.4 | 346.2 | 153.8 | 1,846.2 |
| 140 | 428.6 | 214.3 | 107.1 | 321.4 | 142.9 | 1,714.3 |
| 150 | 400 | 200 | 100 | 300 | 133.3 | 1,600 |
| 160 | 375 | 187.5 | 93.8 | 281.3 | 125 | 1,500 |
| 170 | 352.9 | 176.5 | 88.2 | 264.7 | 117.6 | 1,411.8 |
| 174 | 344.8 | 172.4 | 86.2 | 258.6 | 114.9 | 1,379.3 |
| 180 | 333.3 | 166.7 | 83.3 | 250 | 111.1 | 1,333.3 |
Rounded to a tenth of a millisecond. For any other tempo, use the calculator above.
ModuloOne is a modular synthesizer that runs in your browser: connect modules with cables and hear what comes out. There the step sequencer sets the tempo (60 to 200 BPM), and one step is a sixteenth note. The delay echoes in time when its time matches a note value, for example 0.375 s for a dotted eighth at 120 BPM. Open the generator