Tap tempo: find the BPM
Tap the button (or the space bar) along with the beat. The tempo settles after a few taps, and the table gives you matching delay times for your pedal or plugin.
— BPM
Tap at least twice
| Note | Length |
|---|
Getting an accurate count
Tap on the kick and snare, not the hi-hat — the main beat is what tempo counts. The counter averages your last eight taps, and stopping for two seconds starts a fresh count. If the number looks like half or double what you feel, the half-time and double-time values are right under it.
Delay times
A delay set to the song's tempo sits in the groove instead of smearing it. A quarter note at 120 BPM is 500 ms; a dotted eighth (three quarters of a beat) gives the rhythmic echo guitarists love — 375 ms at 120 BPM.
Write it with the whole band
Cobander is free songwriting and recording software that keeps your band on the same song: everyone records and writes from their own computer through the folder you already share, with chords, lyrics and structure on one timeline — and the band levels up as you go.
Free — the whole app, every song, forever. Windows and Mac. More about Cobander.
Questions
How is BPM calculated?
From the average time between your taps: 60,000 divided by the milliseconds per beat.
What is a dotted eighth delay?
Three-quarters of a beat. At 120 BPM a beat is 500 ms, so a dotted eighth is 375 ms.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. Tap the button with your thumb.