116 BPM
116 beats per minute is one beat every 517.24 ms. Below: bar and phrase lengths, delay and reverb times, LFO rates, the genres that use this tempo, and the pitch change needed to mix in from nearby tempos. Start the metronome or tap along to a track to check it is really 116.
Updated 2026-10-17
116 BPM
The interactive tool loads when JavaScript is available. The complete guide remains readable below.
Beat, bar and phrase lengths at 116 BPM
At 116 BPM one beat lasts 517.24 ms and a 4/4 bar lasts 2.069 s. The beat is not a whole number of milliseconds, so round to the nearest 0.1 ms when you type times in by hand, or use your plugin's tempo sync. That is 1.933 beats per second, or 29 bars of 4/4 per minute.
Dance tracks are usually arranged in 8-, 16- and 32-bar phrases. At 116 BPM a 16-bar phrase takes 33.1 s and a 32-bar intro or outro takes 1:06.2 min. That is 1.1 s longer than the same 16 bars at 120 BPM. A six-minute track at this tempo contains about 174 bars.
| Length | Time | Milliseconds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 beat | 0.517 s | 517.24 ms |
| 1 bar (4 beats) | 2.069 s | 2068.97 ms |
| 4 bars | 8.276 s | 8275.86 ms |
| 8 bars | 16.55 s | 16551.72 ms |
| 16 bars | 33.1 s | 33103.45 ms |
| 32 bars | 1:06.2 min | 66206.9 ms |
| 64 bars | 2:12.4 min | 132413.79 ms |
Delay times at 116 BPM
Straight values follow the beat; dotted values are 1.5 times as long and triplets are two-thirds as long. At 116 BPM the popular dotted-eighth delay is 387.93 ms and a quarter-note slapback is 517.24 ms. The Hz column is the matching rate for an LFO, tremolo or auto-pan synced to the straight note.
| Note | Straight | Dotted | Triplet | Rate (straight) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/1 (one 4/4 bar) | 2068.97 ms | 3103.45 ms | 1379.31 ms | 0.483 Hz |
| 1/2 | 1034.48 ms | 1551.72 ms | 689.66 ms | 0.967 Hz |
| 1/4 (one beat) | 517.24 ms | 775.86 ms | 344.83 ms | 1.933 Hz |
| 1/8 | 258.62 ms | 387.93 ms | 172.41 ms | 3.867 Hz |
| 1/16 | 129.31 ms | 193.97 ms | 86.21 ms | 7.733 Hz |
| 1/32 | 64.66 ms | 96.98 ms | 43.1 ms | 15.467 Hz |
Reverb times at 116 BPM
A common way to keep a reverb in time is to tie its pre-delay to a short note value and let the tail fade within a longer one. At 116 BPM a 1/64-note pre-delay is 32.33 ms and a 1/32-note pre-delay is 64.66 ms.
The decay control on most reverbs is RT60, the time it takes the tail to fall by 60 dB, so the audible tail ends earlier than the number shown. Treat these values as starting points and adjust by ear.
| Reverb character | Pre-delay | Decay (RT60) |
|---|---|---|
| Tight room on drums | 32.33 ms | 517.24 ms |
| Medium plate on vocals | 64.66 ms | 1034.48 ms |
| Large hall or pad wash | 64.66 ms | 2068.97 ms |
| Ambient tail over two bars | 129.31 ms | 4137.93 ms |
Genres at 116 BPM
116 BPM is a moderate tempo, a little below the usual club range. It sits in the middle of the pop range (90–130) and in the middle of the disco range (105–130).
These ranges are common practice rather than rules: genre is decided by rhythm, sound and scene as much as by tempo, and plenty of tracks sit outside the usual numbers.
- Pop: typically 90–130 BPM — a wide band; the genre is defined by songwriting, not tempo.
- Disco: typically 105–130 BPM — steady four-on-the-floor sections are easy to count.
Mixing into 116 BPM
To bring a track at another tempo up or down to 116 BPM, move its pitch fader by the percentage below. Without key lock the key moves too, by the number of semitones shown; about 6 % is one semitone, so changes beyond that are where key lock (master tempo) starts to matter.
A ±8 % pitch fader on a track at 116 BPM reaches 106.7–125.3 BPM; a ±16 % range reaches 97.4–134.6 BPM.
| Track tempo | Pitch change to reach 116 | Key shift without key lock |
|---|---|---|
| 110 BPM | +5.45 % | +0.92 st |
| 112 BPM | +3.57 % | +0.61 st |
| 114 BPM | +1.75 % | +0.3 st |
| 115 BPM | +0.87 % | +0.15 st |
| 117 BPM | −0.85 % | −0.15 st |
| 118 BPM | −1.69 % | −0.3 st |
| 120 BPM | −3.33 % | −0.59 st |
| 122 BPM | −4.92 % | −0.87 st |
Half-time, double-time and nearby tempos
Half-time of 116 BPM is 58 BPM and double-time is 232 BPM.
58 BPM and 232 BPM are outside the 60–200 range of these pages; the half/double-time converter works with any value.
Each 1 BPM step at this tempo changes the beat by about 4.42 ms, so neighbouring tempos are close enough to beatmatch with a small pitch move.
Frequently asked questions
- How many milliseconds is one beat at 116 BPM?
- One beat (a quarter note) at 116 BPM is 60,000 ÷ 116 = 517.24 ms. A 4/4 bar is four beats, 2068.97 ms.
- What is the dotted eighth delay time at 116 BPM?
- A dotted 1/8 delay at 116 BPM is 387.93 ms: an eighth note (258.62 ms) multiplied by 1.5. A straight quarter-note delay is 517.24 ms and a quarter-note triplet is 344.83 ms.
- What genre is 116 BPM?
- Pop and disco commonly use 116 BPM. Genre ranges overlap, so the drum pattern and sound decide the style more than the number does.
- What is 116 BPM in Hz?
- 116 BPM is 1.9333 Hz when one cycle equals one beat. An LFO synced to one bar runs at 0.4833 Hz, and one synced to sixteenth notes at 7.733 Hz.