Note to frequency
Frequency, MIDI number, period and wavelength of any note, with an A4 reference adjustable from 432 to 446 Hz.
en / tools / delay-calculator
Delay and reverb calculator
The milliseconds of every note value at a given tempo, dotted and triplet included, with a suggested pre-delay.
Free, in the browser, no account
From 20 to 300. You can also tap it in.
Four beats is enough. With the focus in here, the space bar works too.
Suggested pre-delay
31.25 ms
A sixty-fourth, kept between 8 and 60 ms. A thirty-second would give 62.5 ms at 120 BPM, outside the 10–40 ms window that separates the reverb from the direct sound.
Length of one bar 4/4
2000 ms2 s
Four quarter notes. In 4/4 it is the same number as the whole note — row 1/1 below — because it is the same duration, asked a different way.
120 BPM
| Value | Straightms | Dottedms | Tripletms | Hz |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/1 | ||||
| 1/2 | ||||
| 1/4 | ||||
| 1/8 | ||||
| 1/16 | ||||
| 1/32 | ||||
| 1/64 |
The equivalent frequency, for tuning an LFO or a filter to the eighth. Three decimals, because on the short values two are not enough. Every number in the table copies with one click.
ms = 240000 / (BPM × value) · dotted ×1.5 · triplet ×2/3
How it works
- Type the tempo of the track in BPM, or tap it in — on the button or with the space bar.
- Read the duration of the value you need, straight, dotted or triplet.
- Click any number to copy it: the milliseconds go into your delay, the hertz into an LFO.
Why it exists
A delay that is off the grid is audible. A delay on the grid disappears into the track and sounds like part of the arrangement: that is why this table predates plugins.
The formula
One primitive, and everything else follows from it:
ms = 240000 / (BPM × value)
dotted = ms × 1.5
triplet = ms × 2/3At 120 BPM the straight column gives 2000, 1000, 500, 250, 125, 62.5 and 31.25 milliseconds. If your plugin says otherwise, it is rounding, or it is using a different tempo from the one you think.
About the bar
In 4/4 a bar lasts exactly as long as a whole note, which is the first row of the table. The panel repeats it because it answers a different question: how long is a bar is what you ask when you set a loop or decide where to cut a tail, not when you pick a note value. It is also written in seconds, which is the unit a sequencer asks for.
About the hertz
The right-hand column is the same duration read as a frequency: 250 milliseconds are 4 Hz. You need it when the number goes into an LFO, a tremolo or a filter that has to pulse in time, rather than into a delay. Three decimals and not two, because on the short values the second one is not enough: at 137 BPM the sixty-fourth is 36.533 Hz, and rounding the milliseconds first would give 36.536.
About pre-delay
The suggested value is a sixty-fourth, kept between 8 and 60 ms. Not a thirty-second: at 120 BPM that would give 62.5 ms, outside the window that separates the reverb tail from the direct sound without turning it into an echo.
From here you also go here
Music paper
The stave of a melody, a listen, and fresh bars generated in the key and scale you choose, downloadable as a MIDI file.
Tuner
Tune guitar and bass from the microphone, with ten tunings, an adjustable A4 reference and the offset read in cents. It picks the audio input and can play the note you are looking for.