The bare stem
A plain upright without an entry flag or foot. The ink meets cap and baseline.
BPM
A geometric sans built for precise labels, lucid figures and the small rhythms of an instrument display. Two widths; one coherent stroke system.
Private typeface / created for David Sargent Wood’s personal use only
02 / 03Widths / weights
1126Encoded characters per face
06Static fonts
Set the pace.
Edit the text, choose a width and weight, and inspect the design at your intended size.
THE ROOM HAS A RHYTHM.
0123456789 / 120.00 BPM
0123456789 / 120.00 BPM
The width selection also updates the design samples and complete glyph grid. All six fonts load from the site’s /fonts/ directory.
The distinctive figures.
Measured arcs, deliberate elbows and continuous joins preserve the character of the supplied drawings.
The joined diagonal
The upper construction meets the lower bowl through a continuous contour. The junction is part of the drawing, not a coincident pair of endpoints.
The closed triangle
A closed upper counter, connected elbow and projecting crossbar. Each junction is unified before font export.
The low junction
A long upper-left stem meets the lower bowl, whose returning arc gives the figure its distinctive gait.
0123456789 / 06:38:45
Two widths. Six faces.
The Standard design opens the letter and figure architecture. Condensed keeps a narrower rhythm. Stroke width stays constant within each weight.
Standard / BPM / 680 figure advance
BPM RHYTHM
0123456789
HAMBURG
Condensed / BPM Condensed / 500 figure advance
BPM RHYTHM
0123456789
HAMBURG
Standard / Extra Thin / 100
Nominal stem 22 units
RHYTHM 0123456789
Standard / Thin / 200
Nominal stem 34 units
RHYTHM 0123456789
Standard / Regular / 400
Nominal stem 58 units
RHYTHM 0123456789
Condensed / Extra Thin / 100
Nominal stem 22 units
RHYTHM 0123456789
Condensed / Thin / 200
Nominal stem 34 units
RHYTHM 0123456789
Condensed / Regular / 400
Nominal stem 58 units
RHYTHM 0123456789
Geometry in the exported font.
Each diagram uses actual Regular outlines. Cap height is 700; baseline is 0. Reflection, uniform stems and unified joints govern the construction.
Shared construction
Extra Thin uses a 22-unit nominal stem, Thin 34 and Regular 58. Each width is drawn at its final proportions; the Standard face keeps the stroke mass of the corresponding Condensed face.
Core capitals and figures align exactly to their cap and baseline guides. Accents, descenders and connected box-drawing borders have their own deliberate extents.
| Metric / units | Standard | Condensed |
|---|---|---|
| Units per em | 1000 | 1000 |
| Cap height | 700 | 700 |
| x-height | 510 | 510 |
| Ascender | 800 | 800 |
| Descender | -240 | -240 |
| Line gap | 160 | 160 |
| Tabular figure advance | 680 | 500 |
A wider vocabulary.
Latin, Greek and Cyrillic are joined by technical signs, media controls, arrows, currency, music and connected box drawing.
Latin
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
ÀÁÂÃÄÅ Æ Ç ÈÉÊË Ð Ñ Ö Ø Œ ß
Figures / Punctuation
0123456789 34 43 3344
!?.,:; '" () [] {} / \ & @ # %
$ € £ ¥ + − × ÷ = ≠ ≤ ≥ ± ∞
Greek
ΑΒΓΔΕΖΗΘΙΚΛΜΝΞΟΠΡΣΤΥΦΧΨΩ
αβγδεζηθικλμνξοπρστυφχψω
ΆΈΉΊΌΎΏ άέήίόύώ
Cyrillic
АБВГДЕЁЖЗИЙКЛМНОПРСТУФХЦЧШЩЪЫЬЭЮЯ
абвгдеёжзийклмнопрстуфхцчшщъыьэюя
Technical / Media controls
↶ ↷ ↺ ↻ ⇄ ⇆ ∿ ⌇ ⌕ ⌖ ⎅ ⎓ ⏏ ⏚ ⏛ ⏩ ⏪ ⏫ ⏬ ⏭ ⏮ ⏯ ⏸ ⏹ ⏺ ⏻ ⏼ ⏽ ⏾ ▢ ▣ ▪ ▫ ▬ ▭ ▮ ▯ ▰ ▱ ◈ ◉ ◎ ◐ ◑ ◒ ◓ ◦ ◫ ◯ ☐ ☑ ☒ ⟲ ⟳ ⬡ ⬢ ⬣ 🎚 🎛 🎤 🎧 🎹 📶 🔀 🔁 🔂 🔃 🔄 🔅 🔆 🔇 🔈 🔉 🔊
Connected borders / 1.2 line height
┌──────┐
│ 120 │
└──────┘
The complete encoded set.
Every character below is present in both widths. Search by character, Unicode name or code point, then select a tile for its identity.
Select a glyph to inspect its Unicode identity.
Use it like an instrument.
Set concise labels, keep tracking modest, and let tabular figures carry the timing.
Install six TTFs for both widths and all weights. For the web, select family BPM or BPM Condensed, and weight 100, 200 or 400.
@font-face {
font-family: "BPM Condensed";
src: url("/fonts/BPMCondensed-Thin.woff2") format("woff2");
font-weight: 200;
font-style: normal;
}
.tempo {
font-family: "BPM Condensed", sans-serif;
font-weight: 200;
font-synthesis: none;
}SEQUENCE / 01QUARTER NOTE
120.00
04 / 1619:57:09
Use Regular for small labels. Proof the thinnest strokes on the intended screen before committing.