Delay & Reverb Time Calculator
Enter your song's tempo (or tap it) and get delay times for every note value, LFO rates in Hz and reverb settings that breathe with the track. Click any value to copy it.
| Note | Straight | Dotted | Triplet |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/1 (whole) | 2.00s | 3.00s | 1.33s |
| 1/2 | 1.00s | 1.50s | 666.7ms |
| 1/4 | 500.0ms | 750.0ms | 333.3ms |
| 1/8 | 250.0ms | 375.0ms | 166.7ms |
| 1/16 | 125.0ms | 187.5ms | 83.3ms |
| 1/32 | 62.5ms | 93.8ms | 41.7ms |
| 1/64 | 31.2ms | 46.9ms | 20.8ms |
Reverb rows are starting points: the pre-delay is a short note value, and pre-delay + decay adds up to a musical length, so the tail fades out in time with the song. Decay on most reverb plugins is measured to a 60 dB drop, so trust your ears and shorten it if the tail still sounds too long.
How the delay time is calculated
One beat (a quarter note in 4/4) lasts 60,000 ÷ BPM milliseconds. At 120 BPM that is 500 ms. Every other note value is a multiple of it:
- Straight notes: 1/8 = half a beat (250 ms at 120 BPM), 1/16 = a quarter of a beat (125 ms).
- Dotted notes last 1.5 × the straight value: a dotted 1/8 at 120 BPM is 375 ms.
- Triplets last 2/3 of the straight value: a 1/8 triplet at 120 BPM is about 166.7 ms.
- Hz is 1000 ÷ ms: use it for LFO rates on filters, tremolo and auto-pan when your plugin doesn't sync to tempo.
Which delay time to use
- Dotted 1/8: the classic rhythmic echo that fills the gaps between straight 1/8 notes. Common on guitars and vocal throws.
- 1/4 or 1/8: echoes land on the grid and follow the groove. Keep the feedback low on busy parts.
- Slapback (roughly 60–120 ms, often not synced): a single short repeat that thickens vocals and guitars, heard on a lot of rockabilly and classic rock vocals.
- 1/2 or longer: long throws on the last word of a phrase, usually automated so they only appear in the gaps.
Filter your delays. A high-pass around 200–300 Hz and a low-pass around 5–8 kHz on the delay return keep the echoes behind the dry sound instead of cluttering the mix.
The Mix Cheat Sheet
Vocal EQ, panning with DAW values, starting levels, compression settings and vocal reverb by genre on two printable pages.
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DOWNLOAD PDF →Delay and reverb settings for every element
MixMap gives you starting points for 63 elements in 5 genres: frequency, panning in your DAW's units, level, compression, reverb and delay. Try the free demo in your browser.