Rhythm & Subdivision
Exact durations for tuplets, nested tuplets, and polyrhythms, with audio playback.
What it calculates
Three related questions sit behind most tuplet work: how long is each note in a 7:4 group of sixteenths at 92 BPM, what happens when you nest a 3:2 inside a 5:4, and where exactly do the attacks fall when two pulse streams share a bar? Rhythm & Subdivision answers all three exactly, with no rounding, and lets you hear each configuration through a click-track-quality audio player.
Three modes
- Simple tuplets: pick a tuplet ratio (N:D), a base note value, and a tempo to get the per-note duration, total group duration, and equivalent groupings in other note values.
- Nested tuplets: stack layers such as 5:4 containing 3:2. The calculator walks the nest exactly and warns when it passes three layers deep, the point at which most players stop reading reliably.
- Polyrhythm (2 streams): for quick 3:4, 5:7, or 2:3 questions within a single bar. For more than two streams or multi-bar cycles, use Polyrhythm Visualizer.
Inputs
- Tuplet ratio: N in the time of D, for however many layers you need.
- Base note value: whole, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, thirty-second; dotted variants.
- Tempo and beat unit: BPM referenced to the selected pulse.
- Loop and reference click: enable a reference pulse underneath the subdivision for rehearsal.
Outputs
- Per-note duration: in milliseconds, exact.
- Total group duration: in ms.
- Equivalent groupings: the same total duration expressed in other note values (useful for renotation).
- Audio playback: hear the subdivision with configurable click frequencies and accents.
When to use it
Use Rhythm & Subdivision when you need a concrete answer about playability or notation. It tells you whether a quintuplet passage at 96 BPM sits comfortably under the hand, lets you hear a 3:2 nested inside a 7:4 before committing it to parts, and helps you choose between equivalent notations: a 7:4 of sixteenths and a 7:8 of eighths describe the same durations, but one usually reads better in context.