Tempo to Delay Time Calculator
A delay or echo effect sounds tight and musical when its repeat time lines up with the song's tempo. The conversion is simple arithmetic: a quarter note lasts 60,000 milliseconds divided by the tempo in beats per minute, and every other note value is a fixed fraction or multiple of that. This calculator takes your tempo and returns delay times in milliseconds for the most-used divisions: quarter, eighth, dotted eighth, sixteenth, and eighth triplet. Dial these into your delay pedal or plugin to lock echoes to the beat. It also shows the matching delay rate in hertz for modulation effects.
Delay time formula
Quarter note = 60000 / BPM
Eighth note = quarter / 2
Dotted eighth = quarter * 0.75
Sixteenth = quarter / 4
Eighth triplet = quarter * 2 / 3
All times are in milliseconds. A quarter note equals one beat in common time. Multiply the quarter-note time for longer values (half note times two) or divide for shorter ones.
Delay timing context
- At 120 BPM a quarter note is 500 ms, an eighth is 250 ms, and a dotted eighth is 375 ms.
- Dotted eighth delays create the syncopated repeat heard on many rock and ambient guitar parts.
- Triplet delays divide the beat in three for a rolling, swung echo.
- Slapback echoes use very short times, typically 60 to 120 ms, often set free rather than synced.
- Match modulation rates to tempo using the matching delay rate in hertz, equal to 1000 divided by the time in ms.
Delay time: frequently asked questions
How do I convert BPM to a delay time in milliseconds?
A quarter note lasts 60,000 milliseconds divided by the tempo in beats per minute, because there are 60,000 milliseconds in a minute and one beat is a quarter note in common time. At 120 BPM a quarter note is 500 ms. Shorter note values are fractions of this and longer ones are multiples.
What is a dotted note delay?
A dotted note lasts one and a half times its plain value, so a dotted eighth is 0.75 of a quarter note. Dotted eighth delays are a staple of rhythmic guitar and synth parts because they create a syncopated, galloping echo against a straight beat. This calculator gives the dotted eighth time directly.
What is a triplet delay?
A triplet divides a beat into three equal parts instead of two, so an eighth-note triplet is one third of a quarter note. Triplet delays produce a rolling, swung feel. The eighth triplet time here is the quarter-note time multiplied by two thirds, and the quarter triplet is two thirds of the quarter note.
Should I set delay time or delay rate?
Many delay units accept a time in milliseconds; set that to the value for the note division you want. Some use a note-division selector instead, in which case match the division and the unit derives the milliseconds from the host tempo. Either way the underlying milliseconds are what this calculator computes.
Why do engineers sync delay to tempo?
Tempo-synced delays place echoes on musical subdivisions of the beat, so repeats reinforce the groove rather than blur it. Free-running delays can sound cluttered against a metered track. Matching the delay time to the tempo keeps the effect rhythmically locked.
Official sources
- UNSW School of Physics: Music acoustics.
- MIDI Association: MIDI tempo and timing specification.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 17 June 2026. See our methodology.