BPM to MS Converter
This free BPM to ms converter turns any tempo into a complete millisecond and Hertz reference for delay, reverb, and modulation timing. Type a BPM into the field above and all 21 note values — every straight, dotted, and triplet division from a whole note down to a 64th — update instantly. Tap any number to copy it straight to your clipboard. Nothing is uploaded; every value is worked out on your device.
How BPM to Millisecond Conversion Works
A track's BPM (beats per minute) tells you how long one beat — a quarter note — lasts:
divide 60,000 (the milliseconds in a minute) by the BPM. At 120 BPM, that's
60,000 ÷ 120 = 500 ms per quarter note. Every other note value is a fixed
multiple of that number: a half note is ×2, an eighth is ×0.5, a sixteenth is ×0.25, and so
on down to a 64th note at ×0.0625. A dotted note (marked with a period,
like 1/4.) adds half its own value again, so it's the straight value ×1.5. A
triplet (marked with a T, like 1/4T) fits three notes into the
space two would normally take, so it's the straight value ×⅔ (0.666667).
Hertz works the other way: once you have a note's duration in milliseconds, its frequency in Hz is 1000 ÷ ms. That's the figure a tempo-synced LFO or modulation rate needs when a plugin only accepts Hz rather than a note-value dropdown.
BPM to MS and Hz Chart for Every Note Division
Use the tempo delay chart above to find any of the 21 standard note values at once — whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, thirty-second, and sixty-fourth, each in its straight, dotted, and triplet form. Every row shows both the millisecond duration and its Hertz equivalent, so whichever unit your plugin asks for is already on the page. As a reference, here's what the three most commonly used values look like at 120 BPM:
| Note | Formula | 120 BPM |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 (quarter, straight) | 60,000 ÷ BPM | 500.00 ms · 2.000 Hz |
| 1/8. (eighth, dotted) | 45,000 ÷ BPM | 375.00 ms · 2.667 Hz |
| 1/8T (eighth, triplet) | 20,000 ÷ BPM | 166.67 ms · 6.000 Hz |
Common BPM to Delay Time Conversions (120–160 BPM)
House, pop, and hip-hop tracks tend to sit between 120 and 160 BPM, so those tempos come up constantly when dialing in a delay pedal or plugin by ear against a reference track:
| BPM | 1/4 (ms) | 1/8. (ms) | 1/8T (ms) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120 | 500.00 | 375.00 | 166.67 |
| 128 | 468.75 | 351.56 | 156.25 |
| 130 | 461.54 | 346.15 | 153.85 |
| 140 | 428.57 | 321.43 | 142.86 |
| 150 | 400.00 | 300.00 | 133.33 |
| 160 | 375.00 | 281.25 | 125.00 |
For any tempo not listed here — or a track with decimal BPM from a DAW's tap-tempo or beat-detection feature — type it into the field above for the exact figure across all 21 divisions.
Dotted Eighth Note Delay: The Classic Slapback Sound
The dotted eighth note delay (1/8.) is one of the most reached-for delay times
in guitar and vocal production — it's the rhythmic, cascading slapback heard on countless
rock and pop records, most famously in The Edge's guitar work with U2. It sits between a
straight eighth and a quarter note, so the repeats feel syncopated rather than a simple echo.
At 120 BPM it works out to 375 ms; the formula is the straight eighth (30,000 ÷ BPM)
multiplied by 1.5. Dial your delay pedal or plugin's time knob to the exact millisecond value
from the 1/8. row above and the repeats lock to the beat instead of drifting.
Reverb Pre-Delay Times by Tempo
Pre-delay is the gap between the dry signal and the first reverb reflection — long enough
that a vocal or snare hit stays clear and up-front before the reverb tail blooms behind it.
A common starting point is a short note division of the tempo, often a 1/64 or
1/32 note, so the pre-delay tightens automatically at faster tempos and relaxes
at slower ones instead of staying a fixed number regardless of the track. Read the
1/64 and 1/32 rows above for the exact millisecond value at your
BPM, then nudge from there by ear — pre-delay is one of the few settings on this chart where
taste has the final word.
Syncing Compressor Release and LFO Rate to BPM
A compressor's release time controls how quickly gain reduction lets go after it clamps down — set it to a note value from the chart above (often a sixteenth or dotted-eighth for a fast, transparent bus compressor, or a quarter or half note for an obvious rhythmic "pumping" effect) and the gain reduction resets in time with the track instead of fighting the next transient. LFO rate works the same way but usually wants Hz rather than milliseconds: read the Hz column for whichever note value you want the LFO's cycle to match — a quarter note at 120 BPM is 2 Hz, so a filter or tremolo LFO set to 2 Hz completes exactly one cycle per beat.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is pre-delay in reverb?
Pre-delay is the short gap — usually 10 to 100 milliseconds — between a dry sound and the first reflection of its reverb, giving the listener a moment to hear the original note clearly before the reverb tail arrives. Setting pre-delay to a note division of the track's BPM (often a 1/64 or 1/32 note) keeps that gap locked to the tempo instead of picked by ear alone.
How do you calculate dotted eighth note delay?
Take the straight eighth note in milliseconds (30,000 ÷ BPM) and multiply by 1.5. At 120 BPM that's 250 ms × 1.5 = 375 ms — the classic dotted-eighth slapback delay time used on countless rock and pop records. Enter your BPM above and read the "1/8." row for the exact figure at any tempo.
How do I calculate delay time from BPM?
Divide 60,000 by the BPM to get one quarter-note beat in milliseconds, then multiply by the note value you want: 4 for a whole note, 0.5 for an eighth, 0.25 for a sixteenth, and so on — or ×1.5 for a dotted note and ×0.667 for a triplet. The calculator above runs this formula automatically for all 21 standard note values as soon as you type a tempo.
What is BPM to Hz used for?
Converting BPM to Hz gives the cycle rate to punch into a tempo-synced LFO that a plugin displays in Hertz instead of note values. A quarter note at 120 BPM is 500 ms, which is 2 Hz (1000 ÷ 500) — set an LFO to 2 Hz and it will complete one full cycle exactly once per beat.
How many milliseconds is one beat at 120 BPM?
One beat (a quarter note) at 120 BPM is exactly 500 milliseconds, from 60,000 ÷ 120. 120 BPM is a common reference tempo because the math lands on round numbers: a half note is 1,000 ms, an eighth note is 250 ms, and a sixteenth note is 125 ms.
What's a good compressor release time for the tempo?
A release time that resets by the next beat — commonly a quarter note or dotted-eighth note in milliseconds — keeps gain reduction pumping in rhythm with the track instead of audibly lagging or cutting off early. For a fast, transparent bus-compression feel, a sixteenth-note or triplet release is common; for an obvious "pumping" effect, a half-note or whole-note release works instead.
