Delay and reverb calculator
Type or tap a tempo to get the delay time for every note, straight, dotted and triplet, in milliseconds or hertz, and reverb pre-delay and decay that end on the beat.
At 120 BPM, one beat (a quarter note) is 500 ms.
Delay times
| Note | Straight | Dotted | Triplet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/1 | 2000 | 3000 | 1333.33 |
| 1/2 | 1000 | 1500 | 666.67 |
| 1/4 | 500 | 750 | 333.33 |
| 1/8 | 250 | 375 | 166.67 |
| 1/16 | 125 | 187.5 | 83.33 |
| 1/32 | 62.5 | 93.75 | 41.67 |
| 1/64 | 31.25 | 46.88 | 20.83 |
In milliseconds: set a delay’s time to one of these and its echoes land in time.
Reverb times
| Space | Pre-delay | Decay | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hall2 bars | 62.5 | 3937.5 | 4000 |
| Large room1 bar | 31.25 | 1968.75 | 2000 |
| Small roomHalf note | 15.63 | 984.38 | 1000 |
| Tight ambienceQuarter note | 3.91 | 496.09 | 500 |
In milliseconds. The whole tail lasts a note, so it is gone on a beat; shorten the decay if the mix gets cloudy.
Opens the free editor with a beat playing. No account needed to start.
Delay times by tempo
The notes most delays are set to, in milliseconds, from slow ballads to drum and bass.
| BPM | 1/4 | 1/8 | Dotted 1/8 | 1/16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60 | 1000 | 500 | 750 | 250 |
| 70 | 857.14 | 428.57 | 642.86 | 214.29 |
| 75 | 800 | 400 | 600 | 200 |
| 80 | 750 | 375 | 562.5 | 187.5 |
| 85 | 705.88 | 352.94 | 529.41 | 176.47 |
| 90 | 666.67 | 333.33 | 500 | 166.67 |
| 95 | 631.58 | 315.79 | 473.68 | 157.89 |
| 100 | 600 | 300 | 450 | 150 |
| 105 | 571.43 | 285.71 | 428.57 | 142.86 |
| 110 | 545.45 | 272.73 | 409.09 | 136.36 |
| 115 | 521.74 | 260.87 | 391.3 | 130.43 |
| 120 | 500 | 250 | 375 | 125 |
| 125 | 480 | 240 | 360 | 120 |
| 128 | 468.75 | 234.38 | 351.56 | 117.19 |
| 130 | 461.54 | 230.77 | 346.15 | 115.38 |
| 135 | 444.44 | 222.22 | 333.33 | 111.11 |
| 140 | 428.57 | 214.29 | 321.43 | 107.14 |
| 145 | 413.79 | 206.9 | 310.34 | 103.45 |
| 150 | 400 | 200 | 300 | 100 |
| 160 | 375 | 187.5 | 281.25 | 93.75 |
| 170 | 352.94 | 176.47 | 264.71 | 88.24 |
| 174 | 344.83 | 172.41 | 258.62 | 86.21 |
| 180 | 333.33 | 166.67 | 250 | 83.33 |
How to work out delay time
Every number in the calculator comes from one sum and a few multiplications.
One beat: 60,000 ÷ BPM
A minute is 60,000 milliseconds, so at 120 BPM a beat, a quarter note, is 60,000 ÷ 120 = 500 ms.
Other notes: halve or double it
An eighth note is half a beat (250 ms), a sixteenth a quarter of one (125 ms), a half note two beats (1000 ms) and a bar of 4/4 four beats (2000 ms).
Dotted: × 1.5. Triplet: × 2/3
A dotted eighth at 120 BPM is 250 × 1.5 = 375 ms, and a triplet eighth 250 × 2/3 = 166.67 ms.
Hertz: 1,000 ÷ ms
500 ms is 2 Hz, two cycles a second: the rate for an LFO, tremolo or auto-pan that moves on the beat.
How to time a reverb to the tempo
Set the pre-delay, the gap before the reverb starts, to a short note, and the decay so the whole tail lasts a longer one. At 120 BPM a hall waits 62.5 ms, then decays for 3937.5 ms: 4000 ms in all, two bars, so it dies away as the next phrase starts.
Hall
Lasts 2 bars, after a 1/32 note of pre-delay. Big and slow: pads, strings, a ballad’s vocal.
Large room
Lasts 1 bar, after a 1/64 note of pre-delay. Space around a vocal, a lead or a snare.
Small room
Lasts a half note, after a 1/128 note of pre-delay. Close and natural: drums, guitars, keys.
Tight ambience
Lasts a quarter note, after a 1/512 note of pre-delay. A touch of air on claps, hi-hats or a rap vocal.
Need the tempo first? Tap along on the tap tempo page, or find it from a song file with the BPM finder.
Questions about delay and reverb times
How do you work out delay time from BPM?
Divide 60,000 by the BPM for one beat, a quarter note, in milliseconds. At 120 BPM that is 500 ms. Halve it for an eighth note (250 ms), halve it again for a sixteenth (125 ms) and double it for a half note (1,000 ms).
What is a dotted eighth delay?
A dotted note is half as long again: a dotted eighth at 120 BPM is 375 ms. Its echoes land between the beats and bounce against them, the delay heard on so many guitar and synth lines.
What is a triplet delay?
Three echoes in the time of two: two thirds of the straight note. A triplet eighth at 120 BPM is 166.67 ms, a rolling, swung echo.
What is reverb pre-delay?
The gap between a sound and the start of its reverb. A few tens of milliseconds keeps a vocal or a snare clear in front of its reverb, and timing it to a short note keeps the reverb in the groove.
How long should a reverb be?
Long enough to fill the space you want, and gone before the next hit it would blur. Timing the whole tail to a note (a bar for a large room, a quarter note for a tight one) makes it end on a beat. These are starting points: shorten it if the mix gets cloudy.
How do I turn milliseconds into Hz?
Divide 1,000 by the milliseconds. A quarter note at 120 BPM, 500 ms, is 2 Hz: the rate to set an LFO, tremolo or auto-pan to so it moves in time.
Does it work in 3/4 or 6/8?
The note lengths do: a quarter note lasts as long in 3/4 as in 4/4 at the same BPM. Only a bar changes. In 3/4 a bar is three beats, a dotted half note, so time a long reverb to that.
How do I set a delay in Prodverse?
Open the free editor, open a part’s effects (FX) and set the Delay’s Time to the number here. Time moves in 5 ms steps, close enough to stay in time; Mix sets how loud the echoes are and Feedback how many there are.
Put it on a beat
Open the free editor, give any part a delay and set its time from here. Drums, bass, chords and a melody, each its own part.
Keep going
More music tools
BPM and key finder
Estimate the tempo and musical key of an audio file in your browser.
Check a trackSong key finder
Find a likely key and Camelot code to help with matching or remixing.
Find a keyTap tempo
Tap along to music to work out its beats per minute.
Tap the rhythmChord progression generator
Pick a mood and key, hear the chords as a beat, then build on them.
Find your chordsPiano chords
See how piano chords are built and hear them on a keyboard.
Learn a chordChords, melodies, tempo, keys, names and the editor, all in one place.
All music tools