TempoPeek

David Bowie · Station to Station

Word on a Wing

Word on a Wing is in B minor at 98.2 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

98 BPM · Andantemedian of 228 analyses · 98–98.8 across the middle eight tenths
Key
B minor2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
89%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
228people who ran the extractor
One beat
611milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
Dynamics
6.53dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.837Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.203Essentia'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

228 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 89% — put it in B minor, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 228 readings; 90% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 98.2 BPM one beat lasts 611 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 152.7 ms and a dotted eighth 458.2 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 49.1 BPM, counted twice as fast 196.4. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.2 Hz, which is 23 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 6.53 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 0.837 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 minor; 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 minor

Each of these differs from B minor 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 98 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note424440.41
Half note212220.82
Dotted quarter1.5916.51.09
Quarter note (one beat)16111.64
Quarter triplet0.667407.32.46
Dotted eighth0.75458.22.18
Eighth note0.5305.53.27
Eighth triplet0.333203.74.91
Dotted sixteenth0.375229.14.36
Sixteenth note0.25152.76.55
Sixteenth triplet0.167101.89.82
Thirty-second note0.12576.413.09

Half time 49.1 BPM · double time 196.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (611 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. The Watcher 2Jay‐Z feat. Dr. Dre, Rakim & Truth HurtsB minor99BPM
  2. Crumbling CastleKing Gizzard & the Lizard WizardB minor97BPM
  3. R U Mine?Arctic MonkeysB minor97BPM
  4. PeacemakerGreen DayB minor99BPM
  5. Blister in the SunViolent FemmesB minor97BPM
  6. The Guns of BrixtonThe ClashB minor97BPM
  7. BusinessEminemB minor96BPM
  8. I’m Gettin’ Money2PacB minor96BPM
  9. Don’t Turn AroundAce of BaseB minor96BPM
  10. Who KnewEminemB minor101BPM

Recordings in B minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 98 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in B minorAll songs at 98 BPMB minor at 90–99 BPMDavid Bowie

MusicBrainz collapses 23 recording ids into this one. Recording id 2c4e7333-116e-4344-b94d-d1fbea45c9fc.