Counting Crows · Recovering the Satellites
A Long December
A Long December is in B flat major at 142.8 beats per minute.
Tempo
143 BPM · Allegromedian of 202 analyses · 142.5–142.9 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- B♭ major2 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 98%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 202people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 420.2milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 442.3Hz · +9 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 4.12dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.861Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 0.947Essentia'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
202 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 98% — put it in B flat major, a key signature of 2 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 202 readings; 99% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 142.8 BPM one beat lasts 420.2 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 105 ms and a dotted eighth 315.1 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 71.4 BPM, counted twice as fast 285.6. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 442.3 Hz, which is 9 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 4.12 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 0.861 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 B 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 B♭ major
Each of these differs from B♭ 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 143 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1680.7 | 0.6 |
| Half note | 2 | 840.3 | 1.19 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 630.3 | 1.59 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 420.2 | 2.38 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 280.1 | 3.57 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 315.1 | 3.17 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 210.1 | 4.76 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 140.1 | 7.14 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 157.6 | 6.35 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 105 | 9.52 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 70 | 14.28 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 52.5 | 19.04 |
Half time 71.4 BPM · double time 285.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (420.2 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- By My Side3 Doors DownB♭ major143BPM
- Open the Door, HomerBob Dylan & The BandB♭ major143BPM
- Enola GayOrchestral Manoeuvres in the DarkB♭ major143BPM
- SpiderwebsNo DoubtB♭ major143BPM
- Dirty Little SecretThe All‐American RejectsB♭ major144BPM
- Cradle of LoveBilly IdolB♭ major144BPM
- Locked Out of HeavenBruno MarsB♭ major144BPM
- EverythingAlanis MorissetteB♭ major144BPM
- Illegal AlienGenesisB♭ major144BPM
- Rockin’ You EternallyLeon WareB♭ major141BPM
Recordings in B flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 143 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in B flat majorAll songs at 143 BPMB♭ major at 140–149 BPMCounting Crows
MusicBrainz collapses 66 recording ids into this one. Recording id 177ae62c-619d-4a98-a2c5-5bd79b7b9c2b.