🎼 Note Duration Calculator
Set a tempo and read the exact length of every note value in milliseconds and seconds, along with the tempo-synced delay and reverb times for producers and beatmakers.
🎼 Note durations
| Note value | Milliseconds | Seconds |
|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 2000 ms | 2.000 s |
| Dotted half note | 1500 ms | 1.500 s |
| Half note | 1000 ms | 1.000 s |
| Dotted quarter note | 750 ms | 0.750 s |
| Quarter note | 500 ms | 0.500 s |
| Quarter-note triplet | 333 ms | 0.333 s |
| Dotted eighth note | 375 ms | 0.375 s |
| Eighth note | 250 ms | 0.250 s |
| Eighth-note triplet | 167 ms | 0.167 s |
| Dotted sixteenth note | 188 ms | 0.188 s |
| Sixteenth note | 125 ms | 0.125 s |
| Sixteenth-note triplet | 83.3 ms | 0.083 s |
| Thirty-second note | 62.5 ms | 0.063 s |
🎛 Delay & reverb times
The dotted-eighth delay is the classic tempo-synced echo heard on countless records.
One tempo, every note length
Every note value is a fraction of the quarter-note beat, so once you fix the tempo the whole table follows. That makes it easy to program a swung eighth, line up a fill, or match a delay to the groove.
Find the tempo first with the BPM Tap Tempo Calculator, then come back here to convert it into the note and delay times you need in your DAW.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How do you calculate note duration from BPM?
A quarter note lasts 60000 ÷ BPM milliseconds, because the tempo counts quarter-note beats per minute. Every other value scales from that: a half note is twice as long, an eighth note half as long, a sixteenth a quarter as long, and so on. At 120 BPM a quarter note is 500 ms, an eighth 250 ms, and a whole note 2000 ms.
How long are dotted notes and triplets?
A dot adds half the note's value, so a dotted note lasts 1.5× the plain note — a dotted quarter at 120 BPM is 750 ms. A triplet divides a beat into three equal parts, so an eighth-note triplet lasts two-thirds of a quarter (about 167 ms at 120 BPM).
How do I set delay and reverb times to the tempo?
Producers sync time-based effects to the song's tempo so echoes fall on the beat. Use the quarter-note time (60000 ÷ BPM) for a 1/4 delay, half that for 1/8, and 1.5× the eighth for the popular dotted-1/8 delay. This tool prints all of those, plus the triplet time, at once.
Does this work for any time signature?
The durations depend only on the tempo of the quarter-note pulse, so they hold regardless of time signature. In compound meters where the beat is a dotted quarter, just read the value you actually want from the table.