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BPM

Tempo to two decimal places, the beat grid on the waveform, and why a “wrong” BPM is usually the other metrical level.

What you get

A tempo in BPM to two decimal places, the beat grid drawn on the waveform with the first beat of every bar marked, a confidence reading, and the other metrical level named when it was close.

Click on beats

Turn on Click on beats and a metronome plays along with the track, locked to the grid DropWave found. If the click stays on the drums, the tempo and the grid are right. If it drifts, you hear it within two bars.

Why two decimal places

Not for show. If you are stretching a loop into a 128 BPM session, the difference between 127.5 and 128.0 is a beat of drift every four bars. That is exactly the kind of error you notice at bar 33 and then spend twenty minutes hunting.

The decimals are a real estimate, not a rounded integer with digits added.

The grid survives a breakdown

The common failure in tempo detection is a reading that collapses the moment the kick drops out, because the kick was carrying the whole measurement.

DropWave reads the pulse from across the spectrum — hats, snares, rim clicks and percussion all contribute, not just the low end. A breakdown, a half-time section, a percussion-led arrangement with no four-to-the-floor at all: the grid holds.

Half time and double time

When DropWave says 103.16, could also be 206.32, both numbers describe the same grid counted at different levels. Neither is wrong.

  • A drum & bass tune at 174 has a half-time feel at 87.
  • A trap beat at 140 is frequently written as 70 with double-time hats.

Pick whichever matches how you count the track: Half / As detected / Double switches it in one click, and your choice carries into the table, the file names and the CSV export.

Settings → General sets the tempo range DropWave reports in. Automatic suits most music; pick a higher range for drum & bass, for example.

When there is no tempo to find

  • Vocals and other soft-transient material. Sung transients are soft and there is often no beat present. Low confidence here is the correct answer, not a failure.
  • Rubato, live and unquantised playing. The tempo moves, so there is no single number.
  • One-shots. Nothing periodic to measure.
  • Ambient, drones and pads. Same.

Key · BPM finder · How to find the BPM of a sample · How to find the BPM of a drum loop