What BPM is drum and bass?
Drum and bass is 170-176 BPM, and 174 is a fair single number. The machine above is playing drum and bass at 174 BPM - press Space to hear it, then move the tempo and listen for where it stops sounding like drum and bass.
Why drum and bass lives at 170-176 BPM
Drum and bass is 170-176 BPM, and 174 is close to a standard. It arrived there by climbing: the hardcore and jungle it came out of ran 150-165 in 1992-94, the tempo crept up as producers sped the breaks further, and by 1996-97 it had settled at 170-175, where it has stayed for nearly thirty years. Almost every sub-style is inside the window - liquid at 170-175, neurofunk at 172-176, jump-up at 174-176 - so the tempo is the one thing the genre agrees on.
The reason it stays there is that drum and bass is a half-time genre wearing a double-time label. The snare lands on 2 and 4, but the bass and the chords move at half that speed, and a 174 BPM breakbeat over an 87 BPM bassline is the whole tension of the style. Go below 165 and the breakbeat stops rolling; go above 180 and the bass has no room, and you are into drumfunk or hardcore. The groove above is at 174; halve it to 87 and notice it is a boom bap beat.
174 BPM in milliseconds
For setting delay times, checking a sample's length, or programming by ear: at 174 BPM one bar of 4/4 is 1,379 ms and a 16th note is 86 ms.
| At 174 BPM | Length | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| One bar (4/4) | 1,379 ms | 0.72 Hz |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 345 ms | 2.90 Hz |
| Dotted 8th | 259 ms | 3.87 Hz |
| 8th note | 172 ms | 5.80 Hz |
| 8th-note triplet | 115 ms | 8.70 Hz |
| 16th note | 86 ms | 11.60 Hz |
| 32nd note | 43 ms | 23.20 Hz |
The genres either side
Tempo windows overlap, and what separates neighbours is usually swing and where the snare falls rather than the number itself. Drum and bass with its nearest neighbours by tempo:
| Genre | BPM | Typical | Felt pulse | Swing | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubstep | 138-142 | 140 | 69-71 (half-time) | 0 | Bass |
| Jungle | 160-175 | 170 | as written | 8-14 | Breaks |
| Drum and Bass | 170-176 | 174 | as written | 0-10 | Breaks |
| Neurofunk | 172-176 | 174 | as written | 0-4 | Breaks |
Frequently asked
Is drum and bass 170 or 174?
Both are common and 174 is slightly more so. Liquid producers often sit at 170-172, neurofunk and jump-up at 174-176. Anything in that range mixes together; a DJ at 174 is the default.
What is the difference between jungle and drum and bass BPM?
Jungle is a little slower and wider, 160-175, because it belongs to the years when the tempo was still climbing. Drum and bass is what the genre became once it settled at 170-176.
Can I make drum and bass at a different tempo?
Yes, and the edges of the window are where the interesting records live. The point of the range is that inside it a listener hears drum and bass before they hear anything else; outside it, the same drum pattern reads as a neighbouring style. Drag the tempo on this page to hear the crossover happen.
Go deeper
Every genre's tempo
- What BPM is lo-fi hip hop?70-85 BPM
- What BPM is hip hop?80-100 BPM
- What BPM is boom bap?88-94 BPM
- What BPM is reggaeton?88-100 BPM
- What BPM is funk?95-115 BPM
- What BPM is afrobeats?100-115 BPM
- What BPM is amapiano?110-115 BPM
- What BPM is disco?110-125 BPM
- What BPM is afro house?118-126 BPM
- What BPM is house?120-128 BPM
- What BPM is UK garage?130-135 BPM
- What BPM is techno?128-140 BPM
- What BPM is the Amen break?136-137 BPM
- What BPM is trap?130-150 BPM · half-time
- What BPM is drill?138-145 BPM · half-time
- What BPM is phonk?130-160 BPM · half-time
- What BPM is dubstep?138-142 BPM · half-time
- What BPM is jungle?160-175 BPM
- What BPM is neurofunk?172-176 BPM
BAP Studio is inspired by classic 16-pad sampler and drum-machine workflows. It is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Akai Professional, Roland, or any other manufacturer.
Made by Max Berggren.