Press Play for a drum and bass beat at 170 BPM. It starts with Drum & Bass Break, and you can switch to Liquid Drum and Bass and Amen Break. One beat lasts 353 ms.
Playing over a drum and bass beat at 170 BPM
170 BPM is a comfortable middle tempo for drum and bass. Use it to play whole songs or long improvisations without stopping; the fills every few bars tell you where each phrase ends.
What plays at 170 BPM
Drum & Bass Break is written at 174 BPM, so 170 BPM is its home tempo. In 4/4 at this tempo a quarter note lasts 353 ms, an eighth note 176 ms and a sixteenth 88 ms, which is the spacing of the hi-hat you hear. Switch to Liquid Drum and Bass and Amen Break on the page and the tempo stays at 170 BPM.
How long is a phrase at 170 BPM?
Knowing how long a phrase lasts helps you plan a song, a solo or a recording take. The drums play a fill at the end of every four or eight bars, so these are the lengths you will hear.
Phrase lengths at 170 BPM
Length
Time
One bar of 4/4
1.4 seconds
Four-bar phrase
5.6 seconds
Eight-bar section
11 seconds
Three-minute song
about 127 bars
How a drum and bass beat works
Drum and bass runs around 170 to 180 BPM but is usually felt in half time: the snare on beat three of a slow bar. You can play over it as a fast groove or as a slow, heavy one; both are correct.
How to play along
Bassists and synth players: play long notes at half-time speed. Guitarists and keys: try parts at the slow half-time pulse first, then at full speed. Rappers and singers usually phrase over the half-time feel.