TempoPeek

Beastie Boys · Licensed to Ill

Slow and Low

Slow and Low is in A flat major at 166.6 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

167 BPM · Vivacemedian of 188 analyses · 166.5–166.6 across the middle eight tenths
Key
A♭ major4 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
97%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
188people who ran the extractor
One beat
360.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
437.5Hz · -10 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.25dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.842Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.118Essentia'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

188 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 97% — put it in A flat major, a key signature of 4 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 188 readings; 99% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 166.6 BPM one beat lasts 360.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 90 ms and a dotted eighth 270.1 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 83.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 333.2. A score would mark that Vivace, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 437.5 Hz, which is 10 cents below 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 4.25 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 0.842 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 A flat 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 A♭ major

Each of these differs from A♭ 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 167 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41440.60.69
Half note2720.31.39
Dotted quarter1.5540.21.85
Quarter note (one beat)1360.12.78
Quarter triplet0.667240.14.17
Dotted eighth0.75270.13.7
Eighth note0.5180.15.55
Eighth triplet0.3331208.33
Dotted sixteenth0.375135.17.4
Sixteenth note0.259011.11
Sixteenth triplet0.1676016.66
Thirty-second note0.1254522.21

Half time 83.3 BPM · double time 333.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (360.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. You LearnAlanis MorissetteA♭ major167BPM
  2. Boulevard of Broken DreamsGreen DayA♭ major166BPM
  3. Last ChildAerosmithA♭ major166BPM
  4. You’ve Got a FriendCarole KingA♭ major166BPM
  5. A Change Is Gonna ComeOtis ReddingA♭ major164BPM
  6. The Boys Are Back in TownThin LizzyA♭ major163BPM
  7. Wasting My HateMetallicaA♭ major163BPM
  8. Nip It in the BudThe B‐52’sA♭ major163BPM
  9. If I Could Turn Back the Hands of TimeR. KellyA♭ major162BPM
  10. Digging in the DirtPeter GabrielA♭ major162BPM

Recordings in A flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 167 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in A flat majorAll songs at 167 BPMA♭ major at 160–169 BPMBeastie Boys

MusicBrainz collapses 17 recording ids into this one. Recording id 226a2e50-94d0-4832-a85b-392f17e893f2.