Delay Time from BPM Calculator
Tempo-synced delay locks the echo of a delay or reverb pre-delay to the rhythm of the track, so repeats fall neatly on the beat instead of clashing with it. The base figure is the quarter-note delay, which is simply 60,000 milliseconds divided by the tempo. From there, every other note value is a fixed multiple. Enter your tempo and note value, choose straight, dotted, or triplet, and this calculator returns the delay in milliseconds and seconds, plus the equivalent rate in hertz for frequency-based effects.
Delay time formula
quarter-note ms = 60000 / BPM
delay ms = quarter-note ms * noteFactor * modifier
seconds = delay ms / 1000
rate Hz = 1 / seconds
noteFactor is the length of the chosen note in quarter notes (1 for a quarter, 0.5 for an eighth). modifier is 1 for straight, 1.5 for dotted, and 2/3 for triplet.
Delay times at 120 BPM
- Quarter note: 500.00 ms.
- Eighth note: 250.00 ms.
- Dotted eighth: 375.00 ms.
- Eighth triplet: about 166.67 ms.
- Sixteenth note: 125.00 ms.
Delay time: frequently asked questions
How do you calculate delay time from BPM?
A quarter-note delay equals 60,000 divided by the tempo in BPM (60,000 because there are 60,000 milliseconds in a minute). Other note values scale from there: an eighth note is half the quarter-note time, a dotted value is 1.5 times the straight value, and a triplet is two thirds of the straight value.
What is a quarter-note delay at 120 BPM?
At 120 BPM, a quarter-note delay is 60,000 / 120 = 500.00 milliseconds. An eighth-note delay is 250.00 ms, a dotted eighth is 375.00 ms, and an eighth-note triplet is about 166.67 ms.
What is a dotted eighth delay and why is it popular?
A dotted eighth-note delay lasts 1.5 times an eighth note, which is three sixteenths of a beat. It is widely used because it creates a rhythmic, syncopated echo that sits between the main beats, an effect heard on many guitar and synth parts. At 120 BPM it is 375.00 ms.
Why does the calculator also show frequency in hertz?
The delay time in seconds has a reciprocal frequency in hertz (1 divided by the time in seconds). This is useful when setting an LFO or a comb-filter delay to the same musical rate, since some effects are dialed in by frequency rather than time.
Sources and definitions
- The quarter-note delay equals 60,000 / BPM because one minute is 60,000 milliseconds. Dotted (1.5x) and triplet (2/3x) factors follow from standard note-value definitions.
- National Institute of Standards and Technology: SI units reference (time in seconds, frequency in hertz).
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 19 June 2026. See our methodology.