coherent

Find the length
of your next loop.

Turn tempo and bars into seconds. A simple reference for recording a phrase, checking its boundary, or planning a practice session.

Your loop lasts

8 seconds

4 bars × 4 quarter notes at 120 BPM

The math behind the loop.

One quarter note lasts 60 ÷ BPM seconds. Multiply that by the number of quarter notes in a bar, then by the number of bars:

Seconds = (60 ÷ BPM) × beats per bar × bars

At 120 BPM, each quarter note lasts half a second. Four bars of 4/4 contain 16 quarter notes, so the loop lasts eight seconds. This tool uses quarter-note BPM and time signatures with a denominator of 4. It does not treat a dotted-quarter tempo in 6/8 as equivalent.

A quick reference for 4/4.

BPM1 bar2 bars4 bars8 bars
604 s8 s16 s32 s
902.667 s5.333 s10.667 s21.333 s
1202 s4 s8 s16 s
1401.714 s3.429 s6.857 s13.714 s

A reference, not a timing correction.

The result assumes a steady tempo. It does not measure your audio or account for a freely played phrase. If a loop feels late, first separate monitoring delay from a badly closed boundary with our latency troubleshooting guide.

For a practical two-bar exercise, follow the first-loop guide. All calculator inputs stay in your browser.

coherent

Be in the first loop.

A place for your next good idea.
We’ll let you know when it’s ready.

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