Tempo Change and Pitch Calculator

Start from the original tempo, then type the new tempo, the speed change in per cent or the pitch shift in semitones, and the other two follow.

Speed, tempo and pitch

Speeding a recording up by a percentage raises its tempo by the same percentage. Change the speed without time-stretching — a turntable’s pitch fader, varispeed on tape, resampling a sample — and the pitch moves with it: double the speed is an octave up, 12 semitones, and each semitone is about 5.95 %. Time-stretching changes the tempo and leaves the pitch alone; pitch-shifting does the opposite.

For DJs: when does the pitch change show?

Small changes are hard to hear as pitch: ±2 % is about a third of a semitone. Past roughly ±6 %, a semitone, vocals start to sound noticeably higher or lower, which is what key lock (time-stretching) is for. And if two tracks are a semitone apart in key, a pitch move of about ±6 % puts them in the same key as well as closer in tempo.

Producer tools

• Delay & reverb time calculator — ms and Hz for every note value, plus reverb times
• BPM ↔ ms ↔ Hz converter — beat length and LFO sync rates
• Running cadence → song BPM — music that matches your steps