Tap tempo

How to use it

Play the song and tap along on the beat: on the pad, or on the space bar or any key. A tempo shows from the second tap and settles after about eight. Keep going and it keeps getting closer, because it uses every tap since you started.

Stop for two seconds and the next tap starts a new count, so you can go straight on to the next song. Or press Reset (Esc on a keyboard).

How accurate is it?

As accurate as your taps, and more forgiving than you might think. It draws one straight line through all of your taps, so a single early or late tap barely moves the result. Eight steady taps usually land within one BPM of the true tempo, and sixteen within half of one.

The small “±” figure under the number tells you how steady your taps were. When it drops below 1, you can trust the number.

A delay that is the same on every tap, like a phone screen’s or a Bluetooth keyboard’s, doesn’t change the tempo at all: only the gaps between taps count.

Half time or double time?

If you tapped on every other beat, you’ll get half the tempo; tap on every eighth note and you’ll get double. Both are right in a way, which is why the page shows them under the number. A trap beat at 140 BPM is also 70 if you nod to the snare. Pick the one that matches how the song is counted in your DAW.

Have the song as a file?

Then you don’t need to tap. The BPM finder reads the tempo from the file itself, in your browser, and tells you when half or double time fits almost as well.

Need the key and chords too?

DOT records whatever your Mac is playing, from a video, a preset demo or a friend’s session, and gives you its key, tempo and chords. You drag the clip straight into your DAW, and the chords come out as MIDI.

Questions