Timing delays to the song's tempo makes them pulse with the music and become nearly imperceptible

A foundational effects technique: delays sound smoother and more cohesive when their timing is mathematically derived from the song’s BPM. A tempo-timed delay pulses with the music, adding depth and glue without calling attention to itself as a discrete echo. The calculation: 60,000 ÷ BPM = quarter-note delay in milliseconds. Halving this value gives eighth-note, halving again gives sixteenth-note, and so on. Triplet and dotted values are obtained by multiplying: ×1.5 for dotted, ×0.667 for triplet. Even very short delays (8-16 ms) timed to the track will fit more naturally than the same delay set to a non-tempo-related time. If you want the delay to stand out, deliberately detune it from the tempo — an untimed delay creates a distinct echo effect.

Examples

At 120 BPM: quarter note = 500 ms, eighth note = 250 ms, sixteenth note = 125 ms, dotted eighth = 375 ms, eighth triplet = 167 ms. A 1/32-note delay at 120 BPM = 62.5 ms, which is short enough to widen a sound without sounding like an echo but long enough to add space.

Assessment

A song is 96 BPM. Calculate the delay time for (1) a quarter note, (2) a dotted eighth note, and (3) a sixteenth-note triplet. Explain why a 240 ms delay on this track might sound out of place while a 250 ms delay sounds natural.