Delay Time Calculator
Calculate delay time from the published formulas and tables for the craft.
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What this tool does
Calculate delay time from the published formulas and tables for the craft. Straight, dotted and triplet subdivisions of the quarter-note beat at the entered tempo. Ping-pong and modulated delays use the same base time; feedback and mix are creative settings, not timing.
How to use the Delay Time Calculator
- Enter or select tempo (bpm).
- Read the calculated result; change any measurement to compare alternatives.
Formula
quarter-note delay = 60000 ÷ BPM ms; each subdivision scales by its beat length; dotted notes multiply by 1.5, triplets by 2/3
- bpm
- Tempo (BPM)
Straight, dotted and triplet subdivisions of the quarter-note beat at the entered tempo. Ping-pong and modulated delays use the same base time; feedback and mix are creative settings, not timing.
Worked example
For delay time calculator, the following measurements illustrate the exact method: Tempo (BPM): 120.
Inputs
- Tempo (BPM)120
Result
- Quarter note delay (ms)500
- Dotted quarter note delay (ms)750
- Eighth note delay (ms)250
- Dotted eighth note delay (ms)375
- Sixteenth note delay (ms)125
- Beat frequency (Hz)2
Results explained
- Quarter note delay (ms)
- Quarter note delay (ms) from the formula above. Straight, dotted and triplet subdivisions of the quarter-note beat at the entered tempo. Ping-pong and modulated delays use the same base time; feedback and mix are creative settings, not timing.
- Dotted quarter note delay (ms)
- Dotted quarter note delay (ms) from the formula above. Straight, dotted and triplet subdivisions of the quarter-note beat at the entered tempo. Ping-pong and modulated delays use the same base time; feedback and mix are creative settings, not timing.
- Eighth note delay (ms)
- Eighth note delay (ms) from the formula above. Straight, dotted and triplet subdivisions of the quarter-note beat at the entered tempo. Ping-pong and modulated delays use the same base time; feedback and mix are creative settings, not timing.
- Dotted eighth note delay (ms)
- Dotted eighth note delay (ms) from the formula above. Straight, dotted and triplet subdivisions of the quarter-note beat at the entered tempo. Ping-pong and modulated delays use the same base time; feedback and mix are creative settings, not timing.
- Sixteenth note delay (ms)
- Sixteenth note delay (ms) from the formula above. Straight, dotted and triplet subdivisions of the quarter-note beat at the entered tempo. Ping-pong and modulated delays use the same base time; feedback and mix are creative settings, not timing.
- Beat frequency (Hz)
- Beat frequency (Hz) from the formula above. Straight, dotted and triplet subdivisions of the quarter-note beat at the entered tempo. Ping-pong and modulated delays use the same base time; feedback and mix are creative settings, not timing.
Frequently asked questions
One minute has 60,000 ms, so a quarter note lasts 60000 ÷ BPM ms. At 120 BPM that is 500 ms per quarter note — halve it for eighths (250 ms), double it for half notes (1,000 ms), and use the table for every subdivision.
A dotted eighth is 0.75 of a beat: at 120 BPM, 375 ms. Played in eighth notes against a dotted-eighth echo, the repeats fill the gaps and create a galloping sixteenth feel — the signature of U2's The Edge and much worship and ambient guitar.
Triplets fit 3 notes into the time of 2, so an eighth triplet is a third of a beat (about 167 ms at 120 BPM), while a dotted eighth is three quarters of a beat (375 ms). The table lists both so you can match the exact rhythmic feel.
Tempo-synced delays sound glued to the track and are the default for modern productions; slightly off-sync or unsynced short delays (10–30 ms) create width and slapback instead. This calculator gives the exact synced values to start from.
Classic slapback echo sits around 75–150 ms, which corresponds to a sixteenth note at roughly 100–200 BPM. Read the sixteenth and dotted-sixteenth rows for your tempo, or use roughly 100 ms independent of tempo for a rockabilly feel.