TempoPeek

Don Henley · The End of the Innocence

The Heart of the Matter

The Heart of the Matter is in D major at 88.2 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

88 BPM · Andantemedian of 137 analyses · 88–114.1 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
89%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
137people who ran the extractor
One beat
680.3milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
439Hz · -4 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.57dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.836Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.096Essentia'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

137 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 89% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 137 readings; 84% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 88 to 114.1 BPM.

At 88.2 BPM one beat lasts 680.3 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 170.1 ms and a dotted eighth 510.2 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 44.1 BPM, counted twice as fast 176.4. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 439 Hz, which is 4 cents below concert A at 440 Hz — close enough to standard that a tuner would not argue. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.

The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 4.57 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 0.836 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 88 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42721.10.37
Half note21360.50.74
Dotted quarter1.51020.40.98
Quarter note (one beat)1680.31.47
Quarter triplet0.667453.52.21
Dotted eighth0.75510.21.96
Eighth note0.5340.12.94
Eighth triplet0.333226.84.41
Dotted sixteenth0.375255.13.92
Sixteenth note0.25170.15.88
Sixteenth triplet0.167113.48.82
Thirty-second note0.1258511.76

Half time 44.1 BPM · double time 176.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (680.3 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Run for Your LifeThe BeatlesD major88BPM
  2. The Ghost of Tom JoadBruce SpringsteenD major89BPM
  3. The OceanLed ZeppelinD major89BPM
  4. Rain, Tax (It’s Inevitable)Céline DionD major89BPM
  5. Despacito (remix)Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee feat. Justin BieberD major89BPM
  6. On the RiseMeat PuppetsD major89BPM
  7. WorldBee GeesD major87BPM
  8. I Don’t Wanna Walk Around With YouRamonesD major89BPM
  9. In Your EyesPeter GabrielD major89BPM
  10. Fat Bottomed GirlsQueenD major89BPM

Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 88 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D majorAll songs at 88 BPMD major at 80–89 BPM

MusicBrainz collapses 6 recording ids into this one. Recording id 3727c61a-55b1-492f-98a3-0acd7c34bce6.