Timing & Sync
Reverb Calculator
Reverb that's timed to the track sits in the mix instead of on it. Enter your BPM, pick a size, and get pre-delay and decay values that resolve on the grid.
The math
bar (ms) = 240,000 ÷ BPM · pre-delay = bar ÷ 64 · decay = (bar × size) − pre-delay
One bar of 4/4 at 130 BPM is 240,000 ÷ 130 = 1,846 ms. A 1/64-note pre-delay is 1,846 ÷ 64 ≈ 29 ms — long enough to keep the dry transient separate from the reverb onset, short enough to read as one event. A one-bar "room" decays for the remaining ~1.82 s, so the tail dies exactly as the next bar starts.
In practice
Pre-delay is the most underused control on any reverb: it protects the attack of the source, so the hit stays punchy while the tail supplies the space. Vocals and snares almost always improve with 20–40 ms of it. Decay timed to the bar means the reverb breathes with the arrangement — a tail that dies on the downbeat feels intentional; one that dies mid-bar feels like a mistake nobody can name.
These values are starting points, not law. Rooms and plates read shorter than their decay setting suggests; big algorithmic halls read longer. Set the number, then move it by ear — the calculator gets you to the neighborhood so your ears only have to find the house.