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What BPM is dubstep?

Dubstep is 138-142 BPM, and 140 is a fair single number. It is felt at half that - 70 BPM - because the snare only lands on beat 3, so the written tempo is double the pulse you nod to. The machine above is playing dubstep at 140 BPM - press Space to hear it, then move the tempo and listen for where it stops sounding like dubstep.

Range 138-142 BPM  ·  Typical 140  ·  Felt pulse 70 (half-time)  ·  Swing 0

Why dubstep lives at 138-142 BPM

Dubstep is 138-142 BPM, and almost all of it is exactly 140. Few genres are this narrow: the South London records of 2005-08 that defined it - Digital Mystikz, Skream, Benga, Burial - were cut at 140 because that is where UK garage's 2-step had been, and dubstep began as garage with the second snare taken out. The American brostep of 2010 onwards kept the number and changed everything else, and the riddim revival of the late 2010s is 140 too. When a record calls itself dubstep at 150 it is usually drumstep or on its way to drum and bass.

What holds it there is half-time. The snare lands on beat 3 only, so the pulse is 70 and a whole beat and a half of every bar is empty of drums - the hole the sub bass lives in. At 70 the drums would be too slow to move the hats and the bass in 16ths and 32nds; at 140 the grid is fine enough for a wobble, and the nod stays slow. The tempo is the compromise between a slow body and a fast bassline, which is why it barely moves.

140 BPM in milliseconds

For setting delay times, checking a sample's length, or programming by ear: at 140 BPM one bar of 4/4 is 1,714 ms and a 16th note is 107 ms.

At 140 BPMLengthRate
One bar (4/4)1,714 ms0.58 Hz
Quarter note (one beat)429 ms2.33 Hz
Dotted 8th321 ms3.11 Hz
8th note214 ms4.67 Hz
8th-note triplet143 ms7.00 Hz
16th note107 ms9.33 Hz
32nd note54 ms18.67 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. Dubstep with its nearest neighbours by tempo:

GenreBPMTypicalFelt pulseSwingFamily
Phonk130-16014065-80 (half-time)0Hip hop
Drill138-14514069-72 (half-time)0Hip hop
Dubstep138-14214069-71 (half-time)0Bass
Jungle160-175170as written8-14Breaks
Drum and Bass170-176174as written0-10Breaks

Frequently asked

Is dubstep 70 BPM or 140 BPM?

Both, and the disagreement is about counting, not the music. Written at 140 the snare falls on beat 3; written at 70 it falls on 2 and 4 with the same hits at the same moments. Producers write 140 because the hat rolls and bass stutters fit the grid as 16ths and 32nds; DJs sometimes count 70 because that is the nod. This page plays it at 140.

What BPM is riddim dubstep?

140, like the rest, occasionally 150 for the harder end. Riddim strips the drums back further than classic dubstep - kick on 1, snare on 3, little else - and lets one repeating bass phrase carry the whole track. The stripped pattern on this page is close to it.

What is the difference between dubstep and trap tempo?

Almost nothing in the number - trap is 130-160, dubstep 138-142, both half-time with the snare on 3 - and everything in the drums. Trap's 808 is the kick and the bassline together and its hats roll constantly; dubstep keeps a real kick, a huge snare and thin hats, and gives the bass its own instrument. Load the trap page after this one and hear the two at the same tempo.

Can I make dubstep 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 dubstep 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

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.