# 170 BPM

> 170 BPM means 170 beats in 60 seconds, or one beat about every 353 ms (0.353 s). It's a very fast tempo, in the vivace and presto ranges, and the core tempo of drum & bass: Digital DJ Pool puts most modern DnB at 170–175. Jungle and the top of trap's range reach it too, and it's exactly double 85. Start the metronome above, tap along with a song to check it, or make a 170 BPM track with Ken Music in Kenerate AI's Music Studio.

URL: https://kenerateai.com/170-bpm
Publisher: Kenerate AI (https://kenerateai.com)
Last updated: 12 November 2026

## Key facts
- Beats in 60 s: 170
- Beats per second: 2.83
- Time per beat: 352.9 ms (0.353 s)
- One 4/4 bar: 1.41 s (42.5 bars a minute)
- Tempo marking: Vivace / presto (very fast)
- Half-time reading: 85 BPM
- Common genres: Drum & bass, jungle, trap
- vs 120 BPM: 170 is 1.42× faster
- Demo "Tunnel Run" (Drum & bass, Ken Music 1.5): prompt: Energetic drum and bass instrumental at 170 bpm, fast breakbeat drums, deep rolling reese bass, atmospheric pads, steady driving energy
- Demo "Blue Tunnel" (Liquid DnB, ElevenLabs Music v2.5): prompt: Liquid drum and bass, rolling breakbeats, deep warm bass, lush pads, soulful vocal chops, 174 bpm
- Demo "Dragon Keep" (Boss battle, MiniMax Music 3.0): prompt: Intense 8-bit chiptune boss battle music, fast arpeggios, driving noise-channel drums, dramatic retro video game, 170 bpm
- Demo "Corner Store" (Compare: 85 BPM, Ken Music 1.5): prompt: Laid-back hip-hop instrumental at 85 bpm, swung dusty drums, deep round bass, mellow guitar loop, head-nod groove

## Steps
1. Press Start — The metronome starts at 170 BPM.
2. Pick a time signature — 4/4 for drum & bass and punk. 8th-note clicks land 176.5 ms apart, so only turn them on if you need the grid.
3. Tap along with a song — Press Tap tempo on each beat and the metronome moves to the tempo you tapped. A drum & bass track may tap at 85; double it.
4. Download a click track — A WAV of 30 seconds to 3 minutes, long enough for a short cadence drill.
5. Change a song to 170 — Load it into the BPM changer and set 170; the pitch stays the same.
6. Make a track at 170 — Describe it in the Music Studio with '170 bpm' in the prompt.

## In depth

### Why 170 BPM means drum & bass
Every guide we read puts 170 inside drum & bass: 160–180 in Ableton and Mubert, 165–185 in Musical U, and 170–175 for most modern tracks in Digital DJ Pool [1][2][3][4]. Jungle, DnB's older sibling, runs 155–180 in Musical U's table [3]. At 352.9 ms a beat, a snare on 2 and 4 hits every 705.9 ms while 16th-note breakbeat hits land 88.2 ms apart.

### 170 and 85: same grid, two readings
Halve 170 and you get 85. Every beat at 85 falls on every second beat at 170, and one 4/4 bar at 85 (2.82 s) holds exactly two bars at 170. Digital DJ Pool warns that analysis software often reads a 170 BPM DnB track as 85, and suggests the pairing as a way to move from hip-hop into drum & bass in one mix, with 87 and 174 as its example [4]. Play the 85 BPM comparison track above, then the DnB demos, and the downbeats line up.

### 170 BPM drum beat basics
A drum & bass pattern to practise with the click:
- Kick on beat 1 and the 'and' of beat 3.
- Snare on beats 2 and 4, 705.9 ms apart.
- Ghost notes and hats on 16ths, 88.2 ms apart; 8th notes land 176.5 ms apart.
- One bar lasts 1.41 seconds, so a four-bar loop takes 5.65 seconds and an eight-bar loop 11.29 seconds.

### 170 BPM for running
At one footstep per beat, a 170 BPM click is a cadence of 170 steps a minute. Research on step rate measures changes from each runner's own rate: in a 2011 treadmill study of 45 recreational runners, a 5% or 10% increase reduced the energy absorbed at the knee, and a 10% increase reduced it at the hip as well [7]. By that arithmetic, 170 is a 5% step up from about 162 steps a minute, or a 10% step up from about 155. It's research on loading, not a training plan, so ask a coach or physio.

### How to change a song to 170 BPM
Time-stretch it: load the track into the BPM changer, read the detected tempo, set 170 and preview. The pitch stays put, and the file never leaves your browser. The tool works from 50% to 150% of the original tempo, so it can reach 170 from anything between about 114 and 340 BPM, and the closer the song already is to 170, the cleaner the result.

### Make a 170 BPM track with Ken Music
Open the Music Studio, write '170 bpm' in the prompt with a style and instruments, and Ken Music 1.5 returns a track of up to about 3 minutes for 30 credits. The Studio has no tempo dial: the tempo in a prompt is a direction for the engine rather than a locked click, so check the result with the BPM & key finder if you need exactly 170. The drum & bass demo above was made this way for this page.

### 170 BPM as a heart rate
MedlinePlus gives a target exercise range of 50% to 85% of your maximum, roughly 220 minus your age [5]. By that estimate, 170 is 85% of maximum at age 20 and about 89% at 30, at or above the top of the range. A normal adult resting rate is 60 to 100 [6]. Ask a doctor about your own heart.

References:
[1] Ableton Learning Music — Tempo and genre: https://learningmusic.ableton.com/make-beats/tempo-and-genre.html
[2] Mubert — BPM tapper and genre tempos: https://mubert.com/blog/bpm-tapper
[3] Musical U — Rhythm tips for identifying music genres by ear: https://www.musical-u.com/learn/rhythm-tips-for-identifying-music-genres-by-ear/
[4] Digital DJ Pool — DJ BPM guide: https://digitaldjpool.com/blog/dj-bpm-guide/
[5] MedlinePlus — Give your heart a workout (target heart rate): https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000763.htm
[6] MedlinePlus — Pulse (normal resting heart rate): https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003399.htm
[7] Heiderscheit et al. (2011), effects of step rate manipulation on joint mechanics during running — Med Sci Sports Exerc: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20581720/

## FAQ
Q: What does 170 BPM mean?
A: 170 beats in 60 seconds. Each beat lasts about 352.9 ms (0.353 seconds), which is about 2.83 beats per second, and a bar of 4/4 lasts about 1.41 seconds.

Q: Is 170 BPM fast?
A: Yes, very. It falls inside both the vivace (156–176) and presto (168–200) ranges. It's the core tempo of drum & bass.

Q: Is 170 BPM drum and bass?
A: It's the classic DnB tempo. Ableton and Mubert put drum & bass at 160–180 BPM, Musical U at 165–185, and Digital DJ Pool says most modern tracks sit at 170–175.

Q: Is 170 BPM the same as 85 BPM?
A: Not the same tempo, but the same grid: every beat at 85 falls on every second beat at 170, so one bar at 85 holds two bars at 170. Digital DJ Pool notes that analysis software often reads a 170 BPM drum & bass track as 85, and suggests mixing hip-hop near 87 into DnB near 174.

Q: Where can I get a 170 BPM metronome?
A: On this page. Press Start above for a free 170 BPM metronome with accents, 8th-note clicks and Tap tempo, or press WAV to download a click track of 30 seconds to 3 minutes. No account needed. The full metronome covers 40–240 BPM.

Q: How do you play a 170 BPM drum beat?
A: The basic drum & bass 'two-step' puts a kick on beat 1 and the 'and' of 3, and the snare on beats 2 and 4, 705.9 ms apart, with fast ghost notes between. Count along with the metronome above, or ask the Music Studio for a drum and bass beat at 170 bpm.

Q: What songs are 170 BPM?
A: Plenty of drum & bass, jungle and punk tracks sit near 170, but published tempos for one song often disagree, and the same track can be listed at 85 or 170 depending on how the beat is counted. To check a song, tap along with Tap tempo above or load the file into the BPM & key finder, which shows half- and double-time options.

Q: Is 170 BPM good for running?
A: As a click to step to, yes: one step per beat is 170 steps a minute. A 2011 treadmill study of 45 recreational runners found that raising step rate by 5% or 10% from each runner's own reduced the energy absorbed at the knee, so the right click depends on where you start. Ask a coach or physio before changing your stride.

Q: How do I change a song to 170 BPM?
A: Load it into the free BPM changer: it detects the original tempo, you set 170, and it time-stretches the track without changing the pitch. It works from 50% to 150% of the original, so it can reach 170 from anything between about 114 and 340 BPM. A 160 BPM song goes to 170 at about 106% speed; an 85 BPM track is out of range but already shares 170's grid.

Q: Is a heart rate of 170 BPM normal?
A: During very hard exercise it can happen, but by MedlinePlus's estimate (target 50% to 85% of a maximum of roughly 220 minus your age), 170 is 85% of maximum at 20 and about 89% at 30, at or above the top of the target range. At rest it's far above the normal adult range of 60 to 100, so speak to a doctor. This page is about musical tempo, not medical advice.

## Related pages
- 160 BPM: https://kenerateai.com/160-bpm
- 85 BPM: https://kenerateai.com/85-bpm
- 140 BPM: https://kenerateai.com/140-bpm
- Free metronome: https://kenerateai.com/metronome
- Tap tempo: https://kenerateai.com/tap-tempo
- BPM changer: https://kenerateai.com/bpm-changer
- BPM & key finder: https://kenerateai.com/bpm-key-finder
- EDM music maker: https://kenerateai.com/edm-music-maker

## Sources
- Ableton Learning Music — Tempo and genre: https://learningmusic.ableton.com/make-beats/tempo-and-genre.html
- Mubert — BPM tapper and genre tempos: https://mubert.com/blog/bpm-tapper
- Musical U — typical BPM by genre: https://www.musical-u.com/learn/rhythm-tips-for-identifying-music-genres-by-ear/
- Digital DJ Pool — DJ BPM guide: https://digitaldjpool.com/blog/dj-bpm-guide/
- Wikipedia — Tempo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempo
- MedlinePlus — Give your heart a workout (target heart rate): https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000763.htm
- MedlinePlus — Pulse (normal resting heart rate): https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003399.htm
- Heiderscheit et al. (2011), step rate and joint mechanics in running — Med Sci Sports Exerc: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20581720/
- Kenerate Music Studio — engine list and modes: https://kenerateai.com/app/music