288 delay times — a dotted eighth at 120 BPM is 375 ms

Every pairing of 24 tempos and 12 note lengths, worked out in milliseconds. One beat is 60,000 divided by the tempo and every other length is a multiple of it, so delay, reverb and LFO all come from that single number.

One beat is 60,000 over the tempo

BPM counts beats in a minute and a minute is 60,000 milliseconds, so one beat is 60,000 divided by the tempo. An eighth is half of that, a sixteenth a quarter. At 120 BPM a beat lands on exactly 500 ms, which makes the arithmetic easy to see.

Dotted is 1.5×, triplet is two thirds

A dot adds half the note back, making it 1.5×, and a triplet fits three in the space of two, making it two thirds. Both matter for delay: a dotted-eighth delay is the setting guitarists reach for most, and layering it against a straight eighth is what creates that rolling pattern.

Reverb and LFO use the same number

Set a reverb’s pre-delay and decay to these figures and the tail lands on the beat. LFOs are often dialled in hertz rather than milliseconds, so the table also gives 1,000 divided by the length — that is the rate to use for a tremolo or auto-pan locked to eighth notes.

A bar is four quarter notes

The bar figures assume 4/4. In 3/4 or 6/8 only the bar length changes; every individual note keeps the same millisecond value, because a time signature groups beats rather than resizing them.

At a glance

Length

Worth knowing

One beat is 60,000 divided by the tempo; every other note is a multiple of it.
A dot adds half the value back; a triplet is two thirds.
LFOs are often set in hertz rather than milliseconds, so that figure is here too.
The bar figures assume a 4/4 time signature.

Common questions

Q. How do I work out a delay time?

Divide 60,000 by the tempo for a quarter note; an eighth is half of that and a sixteenth a quarter. At 120 BPM a beat is 500 ms and an eighth 250 ms.

Q. Why is dotted-eighth delay so popular?

It sits against a straight eighth while still locking to the beat, so layering the two creates a rhythm that was not played. A dotted eighth is 1.5 times an eighth, so three repeats fill exactly half a bar.

Q. Do these numbers work for reverb?

Yes, for pre-delay and decay. Tuning the tail so it stops before the next beat keeps a mix much cleaner.

Q. Why give an LFO frequency?

Because many devices take LFO rate in hertz rather than milliseconds. Divide 1,000 by the length and you have it — the table lists it alongside.

Q. Does a 3/4 time signature change this?

Only the bar length changes; each note keeps the same millisecond value. A time signature groups beats rather than resizing them.

288 delay times — a dotted eighth at 120 BPM is 375 ms

One beat is 60,000 over the tempo

Dotted is 1.5×, triplet is two thirds

Reverb and LFO use the same number

A bar is four quarter notes

At a glance

60 BPMOne beat 1000 ms · One bar 4000 ms

70 BPMOne beat 857.14 ms · One bar 3428.57 ms

75 BPMOne beat 800 ms · One bar 3200 ms

80 BPMOne beat 750 ms · One bar 3000 ms

85 BPMOne beat 705.88 ms · One bar 2823.53 ms

90 BPMOne beat 666.67 ms · One bar 2666.67 ms

95 BPMOne beat 631.58 ms · One bar 2526.32 ms

100 BPMOne beat 600 ms · One bar 2400 ms

105 BPMOne beat 571.43 ms · One bar 2285.71 ms

110 BPMOne beat 545.45 ms · One bar 2181.82 ms

115 BPMOne beat 521.74 ms · One bar 2086.96 ms

120 BPMOne beat 500 ms · One bar 2000 ms

124 BPMOne beat 483.87 ms · One bar 1935.48 ms

126 BPMOne beat 476.19 ms · One bar 1904.76 ms

128 BPMOne beat 468.75 ms · One bar 1875 ms

130 BPMOne beat 461.54 ms · One bar 1846.15 ms

135 BPMOne beat 444.44 ms · One bar 1777.78 ms

140 BPMOne beat 428.57 ms · One bar 1714.29 ms

145 BPMOne beat 413.79 ms · One bar 1655.17 ms

150 BPMOne beat 400 ms · One bar 1600 ms

160 BPMOne beat 375 ms · One bar 1500 ms

170 BPMOne beat 352.94 ms · One bar 1411.76 ms

174 BPMOne beat 344.83 ms · One bar 1379.31 ms

180 BPMOne beat 333.33 ms · One bar 1333.33 ms

Worth knowing

Common questions