How is note duration calculated from BPM?

One quarter note lasts 60000 divided by BPM milliseconds, because there are 60000 ms in a minute and BPM quarter-note beats per minute. A whole note is four times that, an eighth note is half, a sixteenth note a quarter, and so on by powers of two.

What is a dotted note duration?

A dot adds half the note's value, so a dotted note is 1.5 times the straight duration. Dotted eighth-note delays are a staple of guitar and synth music because they create a rhythmic offset against the straight beat.

What is a triplet note duration?

A triplet fits three notes into the space of two, so a triplet duration is two thirds (0.6667) of the straight value. Triplet delays give a rolling, swung feel that locks to the beat differently from straight or dotted timing.

Should I use note duration for delay feedback or just the delay time?

Set the delay time to the millisecond value for the subdivision you want; feedback only controls how many repeats you hear, not their spacing. For tempo-synced delays many DAWs let you enter note values directly, but the ms figure is essential for hardware units and plugins without sync.

How do I convert a note duration to an LFO frequency in Hz?

Frequency in Hz equals 1000 divided by the duration in milliseconds. A one-bar LFO at 120 BPM lasts 2000 ms, which is 0.5 Hz. The table shows the Hz value alongside each millisecond figure so you can set free-running LFOs to the beat.

Tempo-to-Note-Grid Reference Table

This reference table converts any tempo into the exact note durations you need for tempo-synced delays, reverbs, gates, and LFOs. Enter a BPM and read off the milliseconds for whole notes down to 64th notes, in straight, dotted, and triplet flavours.

How it works

The whole calculation hangs off one fact: at a given tempo, a quarter note lasts

quarter note (ms) = 60000 / BPM

because a minute is 60000 milliseconds and BPM counts quarter-note beats per minute. Every other straight note value is a power-of-two multiple or fraction of the quarter note:

whole   = quarter x 4
half    = quarter x 2
eighth  = quarter / 2
16th    = quarter / 4
32nd    = quarter / 8
64th    = quarter / 16

Dotted and triplet variants

A dot lengthens a note by half its value, so the dotted duration is the straight value multiplied by 1.5. A triplet packs three notes into the time of two, so each triplet note is the straight value multiplied by 2/3 (about 0.6667).

Hz column

For LFOs and tremolo that you want locked to tempo, frequency in hertz is 1000 / duration_ms. A one-bar cycle at 120 BPM is 2000 ms, which is exactly 0.5 Hz.

Worked example

At 120 BPM, a quarter note is 60000 / 120 = 500 ms. That makes an eighth note 250 ms, a dotted eighth 375 ms (the classic ambient-guitar delay), and an eighth-note triplet 166.7 ms. Set your delay to those figures and the echoes lock perfectly to the groove.

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