Home › Techno BPM Guide › 138 BPM Techno
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- Bar
- 1.74 s
- Beat
- 435 ms
- 16th note
- 109 ms
- 64 bars
- 1:51
What 138 BPM is for
The start of peak time. The kick still has air around it, the crowd still moves as one, and there is room for a groove rather than a wall. Much of the best-known peak-time techno is written here rather than faster.
The arithmetic
At 138 BPM a beat lasts 435 ms and a four-beat bar lasts 1.74 seconds. From that, everything else follows:
Builds. 32 bars = 0:56. 64 bars = 1:51. 128 bars = 3:43. The choice of build length is effectively a choice of genre.
The arpeggio grid. A sixteenth note lands every 109 ms. Below about 90 ms a sequence stops reading as separate notes and becomes a timbre; above about 160 ms it stops fusing into one texture and becomes a riff.
Delay in time. A dotted eighth is 326 ms — the setting that produces a cross-rhythm against straight sixteenths rather than doubling them. A quarter-note delay is 435 ms.
Track length. A 6-minute record at this tempo is 207 bars; an 8-minute one is 276 bars. Arrangements are written in multiples of 8 and 16, so those are the numbers a producer is actually counting.
One step either way
140 to 142 is the same idea with less air. 132 still permits harmony; 138 mostly does not.
Where BALIMORE sits
The bottom of the BALIMORE peak-time range. Every track is written, produced and mixed by Steven Ran Cohen — the player at the top of this page is the catalog, free and with no sign-up.
BALIMORE sets
Continuous 20–80 minute mixes, written, produced and mixed by Steven Ran Cohen.
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- Techno House Best Mix 2026 — Project Xpeak time
- Tech House Mix — Time To Shine Againtech house
- YouTubeplaylist
Questions people actually ask
How long is one bar at 138 BPM?
1.74 seconds. A beat lasts 435 ms and there are four beats to the bar.
How long is a 64-bar build at 138 BPM?
1:51. A 32-bar build is 0:56 and a 128-bar build is 3:43.
What genre is 138 BPM techno?
The bottom of the main room. The start of peak time.
What delay time should I use at 138 BPM?
A dotted eighth is 326 ms, which creates a cross-rhythm against straight sixteenths. A quarter note is 435 ms.