TempoPeek

AC/DC · Flick of the Switch

Flick of the Switch

Flick of the Switch is in D major at 129.4 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

129 BPM · Allegromedian of 160 analyses · 129.2–129.5 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
86%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
160people who ran the extractor
One beat
463.7milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.3Hz · +5 cents from A 440
Dynamics
2.34dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.927Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.138Essentia's danceability, 0–3

Source: AcousticBrainz, dump of 2022-06-23 (CC0) · MusicBrainz core data, 2026-09-17 (CC0) · how each number is measured. Measured up to 23.06.2022 — AcousticBrainz stopped collecting in 2022, so nothing released after that date is here.

What the numbers say

160 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 86% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 160 readings; 93% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 129.4 BPM one beat lasts 463.7 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 115.9 ms and a dotted eighth 347.8 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 64.7 BPM, counted twice as fast 258.8. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.3 Hz, which is 5 cents above concert A at 440 Hz — the sort of drift a tape machine or a slightly different mastering leaves behind. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.

The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 2.34 dB: that is how far the level wanders from its own average, so a small number means a loud, flat master and a large one means a recording that still breathes. Its average loudness is 0.927 on Essentia's 0-to-1 scale, which is not decibels and is not comparable to a streaming service's number.

10 other recordings here are in D major; the ones listed below are the closest in tempo.

Beats per bar are not in this dataset. AcousticBrainz's analysis reports a tempo, a key and a loudness, and no time signature at all, so this page does not print one — a 4/4 here would be a guess dressed as a measurement.

Keys that fit with D major

Each of these differs from D major by at most one accidental, or shares its tonic. That is the whole of what a mixing wheel encodes; here the relations are named instead of numbered.

Delay times at 129 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41854.70.54
Half note2927.41.08
Dotted quarter1.5695.51.44
Quarter note (one beat)1463.72.16
Quarter triplet0.667309.13.24
Dotted eighth0.75347.82.88
Eighth note0.5231.84.31
Eighth triplet0.333154.66.47
Dotted sixteenth0.375173.95.75
Sixteenth note0.25115.98.63
Sixteenth triplet0.16777.312.94
Thirty-second note0.1255817.25

Half time 64.7 BPM · double time 258.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (463.7 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Jimmy JazzThe ClashD major129BPM
  2. The Narrow Way, Part 3David GilmourD major129BPM
  3. What You’re DoingThe BeatlesD major129BPM
  4. Maggie MayRod StewartD major129BPM
  5. Happy JackThe WhoD major130BPM
  6. I Know but I Don’t KnowBlondieD major130BPM
  7. Walking in MemphisCherD major129BPM
  8. HeadwiresFoo FightersD major130BPM
  9. Yeah 3×Chris BrownD major130BPM
  10. Ramble TambleCreedence Clearwater RevivalD major130BPM

Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 129 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D majorAll songs at 129 BPMD major at 120–129 BPMAC/DC

MusicBrainz collapses 16 recording ids into this one. Recording id 08ac8345-838f-4d76-a8e1-137ccc0592d4.