01
Start listening
Allow the microphone, or pick your interface in the Input window and feed it a pre-fader aux from the desk. TempoSense asks for the raw signal, no voice processing.
Free · A Squaresmile app
Hear the tempo. Read the BPM.
Point it at the band or the DJ — laptop mic, phone, or a line feed from the desk — and TempoSense shows the tempo as one big number, with the delay times and the ÷2 / ÷4 / ÷8 layers already worked out. No tapping, no typing. MIDI out to Ableton, LiveProfessor and lighting desks.
Free — 30-second signup, no card
Runs in the browser, nothing uploaded
Four detectors + Auto, bar tracking, MIDI
How it works
From the first bar to a number you can act on.
02
Auto locks in seconds
Four detectors run at once — drums, full mix, low end, chord changes — and the clearest one wins. Pick the range your music lives in and octave errors are gone.
03
Read the layers
The big number, the ÷2 / ÷4 / ÷8 row, the bar position and the full delay-time table update together. Hold freezes it; ½× / 2× fix the rest.
04
Send it on
MIDI to Ableton or LiveProfessor (tempo, delay time), beat pulses to the lighting desk, a set log as CSV, or a fullscreen display for the FOH.
Features
Built for the room, not the studio.
Four detectors + Auto
Transient for drums and clicks, Groove for the full mix, Low-end for loud rooms where reverb smears everything but the kick, Harmonic for piano, strings and choir. Auto follows the clearest beat.
Any input, raw signal
Built-in mic, phone, or any interface with channel choice and a live level meter. The browser's echo cancellation and auto gain are switched off, and the tag tells you when a browser ignored that.
Layers and delay times
÷2 / ÷4 / ÷8 under the number for movers, chases and strobes at different rates; the complete delay table from whole note to triplet, with ÷4 and ÷8 columns.
MIDI output
Tempo and delay time as controller values mapped to your range, beat pulses for ÷1 / ÷2 / ÷4 / ÷8 as notes, MIDI clock if a receiver must slave. Guides for Ableton, LiveProfessor, grandMA and ChamSys built in.
Bar tracking
Beat 1 from where the kick and the chord changes land, four bar dots, and a Set 1 button when a heavy backbeat fools it. The ÷4 pulse becomes a real bar pulse.
Set log + display
Record the night: one line per tempo with start, end and duration, exported as CSV. A fullscreen display shows the number and the layers on any monitor.
In the tool
The number, the layers, the table.
Who it's for
Anyone whose gear needs to know the tempo.
Lighting designers & operators
Read the DJ's or the band's tempo and layer the movement: movers on ÷4, a chase on ÷2, strobes on the beat — as notes into the desk's speed masters.
FOH & monitor engineers
Delay times for the song that is playing right now, or a controller into the delay plugin so it follows the tempo without host sync.
DJs, MDs & bands
Know the tempo of what is playing before you mix in, count in, or hand the number to BPM Forge for a click at exactly that speed.
FAQ
Quick answers.
Is anything recorded or uploaded?
No. All analysis happens in your browser; no audio leaves the device. Only your settings and, if you switch it on, the set log are stored.
Why does it show half or double the tempo?
A click every 345 ms is 174 or 87 BPM — no detector can tell. The range pill decides, and ½× / 2× fix the rest in one tap.
Which browsers send MIDI?
Chrome, Edge and Firefox on a laptop. Safari and iOS have no Web MIDI; detection itself works everywhere with a microphone.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes — detection, layers, delay table and set log all work on the phone's built-in mic. Use a laptop with an interface for a line feed and for MIDI.
Ready when you are
Know the tempo before the first bar is over.
Create a free Squaresmile account and you're in — one login unlocks TempoSense and every other Squaresmile app.
