Pitch to BPM Calculator
This pitch to BPM calculator gives the new tempo of a track after its pitch is shifted up or down. Type the Original BPM and the shift and the New BPM updates as you type, rounded to three decimals. Enter the shift in semitones, cents or speed percentage, or switch to Pitch shift to find the shift that lands on a target tempo. Everything is worked out on your device and nothing is uploaded.
How to Convert Pitch to BPM
- Leave New BPM selected at the top.
- Type the track's tempo in Original BPM. Decimals such as 127.5 are fine, up to 999.
- Type the shift in Pitch shift · Semitones. Decimals and negative values work, and the ± button beside the field flips the sign when your keypad has no minus key.
- Read the New BPM card. It shows
--until both numbers are valid, and the line under the result shows the formula for the unit in use.
To enter the shift in another unit, open Advanced and choose a Shift unit: Semitones (the default), Cents or Speed %. The field label changes to match, for example Pitch shift · Cents.
How Pitch Changes BPM: The Formulas
When audio is repitched by playing it faster or slower, every beat is squeezed or stretched by the same ratio as the pitch. An octave is a doubling, and an octave is 12 semitones, so one semitone multiplies the tempo by 2^(1/12), about 1.0595. The three units are the same ratio written three ways:
| Unit | New BPM | 120 BPM example |
|---|---|---|
| Semitones | original × 2^(semitones ÷ 12) | +2 → 134.695 |
| Cents | original × 2^(cents ÷ 1200) | +100 → 127.136 |
| Speed % | original × (1 + percent ÷ 100) | +6% → 127.200 |
A hundred cents make one semitone, so +100 cents and +1 semitone give the same 127.136. The speed percentage must stay above −100%, because at −100% the track would stand still. The calculator shows "Speed must stay above -100%." if you go past it.
BPM Change per Semitone at 120 BPM
The BPM change for a semitone depends on the starting tempo, because it is a percentage of the tempo and not a fixed number of beats. At 120 BPM the nearby shifts look like this:
| Shift | New BPM | Change |
|---|---|---|
| −12 semitones (octave down) | 60.000 | −50% |
| −2 semitones | 106.908 | −10.9% |
| −1 semitone | 113.265 | −5.6% |
| +1 semitone | 127.136 | +5.9% |
| +2 semitones | 134.695 | +12.2% |
| +12 semitones (octave up) | 240.000 | +100% |
Every 12 semitones doubles or halves the tempo, which is why an octave up turns 120 BPM into 240 BPM. Type any other pair of values into the calculator for the exact result.
Find the Pitch Shift Needed to Reach a Target BPM
Select Pitch shift at the top to run the calculation backwards. The fields become Original BPM and Target BPM, and the result card reads Required pitch shift in the unit you chose under Advanced. The formulas are 12 × log2(target ÷ original) for semitones, 1200 × log2(target ÷ original) for cents and (target ÷ original − 1) × 100 for speed percentage.
For a 120 BPM track you want at 128 BPM, the answer is +1.117 semitones, which is also +111.731 cents or +6.667% speed. That is how you match a record to the tempo of another by pitch alone, and the result tells you how far the sound will move: about a semitone and a bit sharper.
When the New BPM Is Right: Varispeed vs Key Lock
This calculator applies when the tempo and the pitch change together: a turntable's pitch fader, a tape or sampler slowed or sped up, or audio resampled to a new rate. It does not time-stretch audio. If your player has Master Tempo, key lock or a time-stretch mode switched on, the tempo stays put while the pitch moves, and the BPM does not change at all.
If what you want is the speed of the audio itself, with or without the pitch following, the Slow Down Audio tool changes the speed of a file and lets you keep or drop the original pitch. To turn the tempo you end up with into delay or reverb times, the BPM to MS Converter gives every note division in milliseconds and Hz.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does changing pitch change BPM?
It does when the pitch is changed by playing the audio faster or slower, as with a vinyl turntable's pitch fader, a CDJ tempo slider with Master Tempo off, or a plain resample. Tempo and pitch move together, so raising a 120 BPM track by 2 semitones makes it 134.695 BPM. It does not when the software uses a pitch shifter with time correction: the notes move but the tempo stays at 120 BPM.
How many BPM is one semitone?
One semitone is not a fixed number of BPM. It multiplies the tempo by about 1.0595 (2^(1/12)), a change of roughly 5.95%. At 100 BPM that is +5.946 BPM, at 120 BPM it is +7.136 BPM and at 140 BPM it is +8.325 BPM. Going down one semitone multiplies the tempo by about 0.9439, so 120 BPM becomes 113.265.
How do I convert pitch to BPM?
Multiply the original BPM by 2 raised to (semitones ÷ 12). For 120 BPM at +2 semitones that is 120 × 2^(2/12) = 134.695 BPM. With cents the exponent is cents ÷ 1200, and with a speed percentage you multiply by (1 + percent ÷ 100). The calculator above does this as you type and rounds the result to three decimals.
How do I convert BPM to semitones?
Select Pitch shift at the top, enter the original BPM and the target BPM, and read the required shift. The math is 12 × log2(target ÷ original). Going from 120 to 128 BPM needs +1.117 semitones, which is the same as +111.731 cents or +6.667% speed. A negative result means the track has to be slowed down.
How do I convert a semitone to a percentage?
One semitone up is a speed increase of 5.946% (2^(1/12) − 1), and one semitone down is a decrease of 5.613%. For any other shift, the percentage is (2^(semitones ÷ 12) − 1) × 100. Choose Speed % under Advanced to enter the shift as a percentage directly, as on a pitch fader marked in percent.
What does Master Tempo or key lock do to the new BPM?
With Master Tempo, key lock or time-stretch switched on, the player changes the speed without changing the pitch, or changes the pitch without changing the speed. Because the tempo and the pitch are separated, a pitch shift leaves the BPM where it was. This calculator is for the opposite case, where the track is repitched and the tempo follows the pitch. It does not time-stretch audio.
Recommended
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Audio-Technica ATH-M20x Studio HeadphonesCue the repitched record in your ear and check the new tempo against the deck before you drop it in.
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Akai MPK Mini MK3 25-Key MIDI KeyboardPlay the resampled loop across the keys to find the pitch where its BPM lands on your target.
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Focusrite Scarlett Solo (4th Gen) Audio InterfaceRecord a clean resample of your repitched loop and know exactly what tempo it lands on.
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