David Bowie · Space Oddity
An Occasional Dream
An Occasional Dream is in C major at 141.8 beats per minute.
Tempo
142 BPM · Allegromedian of 276 analyses · 141.8–142 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 89%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 276people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 423.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 437Hz · -12 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 5.93dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.603Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 0.982Essentia'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
276 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 89% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 276 readings; 99% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 141.8 BPM one beat lasts 423.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 105.8 ms and a dotted eighth 317.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 70.9 BPM, counted twice as fast 283.6. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 437 Hz, which is 12 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 5.93 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 0.603 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 C 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 C major
Each of these differs from C 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 142 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1692.5 | 0.59 |
| Half note | 2 | 846.3 | 1.18 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 634.7 | 1.58 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 423.1 | 2.36 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 282.1 | 3.55 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 317.3 | 3.15 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 211.6 | 4.73 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 141 | 7.09 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 158.7 | 6.3 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 105.8 | 9.45 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 70.5 | 14.18 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 52.9 | 18.91 |
Half time 70.9 BPM · double time 283.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (423.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Mr. JonesCounting CrowsC major142BPM
- Sweetest Thing (the single mix)U2C major142BPM
- Amen OmenBen HarperC major142BPM
- I Can’t Stand Up for Falling DownElvis Costello & The AttractionsC major142BPM
- Spirits in the Material WorldThe PoliceC major141BPM
- ShiloNeil DiamondC major143BPM
- U + Ur HandP!nkC major141BPM
- FrownlandCaptain Beefheart & His Magic BandC major143BPM
- DreamsVan HalenC major141BPM
- Old Brown ShoeThe BeatlesC major143BPM
Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 142 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in C majorAll songs at 142 BPMC major at 140–149 BPMDavid Bowie
MusicBrainz collapses 6 recording ids into this one. Recording id 3917014a-46fd-4419-8528-8a457a4682ac.