Duration Calculator
Tempo, note value, clock time — solve for any.
Three variables, one equation
Tempo, note value, and duration are linked by a single equation:
duration = (60 / BPM) × note-value-ratio. Fix any two,
the third falls out. The Duration Calculator lets you pick which
variable you're solving for — find the duration given a tempo
and note value, find the tempo that makes a note value last a
specified time, or find which note value matches a target duration at
a given tempo.
Three modes
- Find duration — enter tempo + note value, get duration in ms, seconds, and SMPTE.
- Find tempo — enter note value + target duration, get the BPM that makes it fit.
- Find note value — enter tempo + target duration, get the closest standard note value.
Batch mode
For film-scoring and post-production, batch mode tabulates every standard note value at a given tempo in one pass. At 120 BPM, a whole note is 2000 ms (00:02.000), a quarter is 500 ms (00:00.500), a 32nd is 62.5 ms (00:00.063). Scan the list to find which division gets you closest to a hit point or sync mark — no division, no rounding, no spreadsheet.
SMPTE timecode
Durations are shown in SMPTE-style MM:SS.mmm format
alongside raw milliseconds and seconds. This is the format
film-scoring sessions use to mark hit points, and the format most DAWs
expose for region positions.
When to use it
Scoring to picture and you need a phrase of exactly 4.200 seconds — the batch list tells you whether a dotted half at 107 BPM lands closer than a whole note at 114 BPM. Tuning a delay time to an eighth-note at 128 BPM (234.375 ms). Setting a sample length. Checking that a silence in a part is really the length the composer intended. For nested-tuplet durations specifically, use Rhythm & Subdivision.