What BPM is jungle?
Jungle is 160-175 BPM, and 170 is a fair single number. The machine above is playing jungle at 170 BPM - press Space to hear it, then move the tempo and listen for where it stops sounding like jungle.
Why jungle lives at 160-175 BPM
Jungle is 160-175 BPM, and where in that range depends on the year. The genre came out of 1992-93 hardcore at 150-160, was at 160-165 in its 1994 golden year, and by 1995-96 had reached 170-175 - at which point it was mostly being called drum and bass. Modern jungle revivals tend to sit at 165-172, and 170 is a fair single number. Ragga jungle stays at the slower end, 160-170, because the dancehall vocals it samples sound wrong sped up further.
The tempo is really the tempo of a sped-up break. Jungle is built on the Amen and a handful of other funk breaks, recorded at 100-136 BPM and pitched up until the snare hits crack. The Amen at 136 pushed to 165 is up by a fifth, which is why jungle drums have that thin, brittle, high-pitched snap - a break at its own tempo sounds nothing like it. The groove above is a chopped-break arrangement at 170; slow it to 136 and hear the break relax back into funk.
170 BPM in milliseconds
For setting delay times, checking a sample's length, or programming by ear: at 170 BPM one bar of 4/4 is 1,412 ms and a 16th note is 88 ms.
| At 170 BPM | Length | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| One bar (4/4) | 1,412 ms | 0.71 Hz |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 353 ms | 2.83 Hz |
| Dotted 8th | 265 ms | 3.78 Hz |
| 8th note | 176 ms | 5.67 Hz |
| 8th-note triplet | 118 ms | 8.50 Hz |
| 16th note | 88 ms | 11.33 Hz |
| 32nd note | 44 ms | 22.67 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. Jungle with its nearest neighbours by tempo:
| Genre | BPM | Typical | Felt pulse | Swing | Family |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drill | 138-145 | 140 | 69-72 (half-time) | 0 | Hip hop |
| 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 jungle slower than drum and bass?
On average, by a few beats: jungle 160-175, drum and bass 170-176. Early jungle at 160 is clearly slower; late jungle at 172 is the same tempo as drum and bass, and the difference becomes the breaks - jungle chops sampled drummers, drum and bass programs its own.
What BPM is the Amen break in jungle?
Usually 160-170 - the original recording is about 136, so it is being played roughly 20-25% faster, and it was often pitched rather than time-stretched, which raised it a fourth or a fifth.
Can I make jungle 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 jungle 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 drum and bass?170-176 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.