Timing & Sync
BPM to Milliseconds
One tempo in, every note length out. The foundation of all timing math in a DAW.
One beat (1/4 note)
500.0ms
| Length | Milliseconds | Seconds |
|---|
The math
one beat (ms) = 60,000 ÷ BPM
There are 60,000 milliseconds in a minute and BPM beats in that minute, so each beat lasts 60,000 ÷ BPM. At 120 BPM that's exactly 500 ms. A bar of 4/4 is four beats — 2,000 ms — and every division just halves from there.
In practice
This one number unlocks everything time-based in production: delay times, reverb decays, compressor release, LFO rates, sample-loop lengths, automation curve lengths. Producers who know their track's beat length in ms stop guessing at time parameters and start setting them. At club tempos the useful anchors are easy to memorize: 128 BPM ≈ 469 ms, 130 ≈ 462 ms, 140 ≈ 429 ms, 174 ≈ 345 ms.