Earth, Wind & Fire · Now, Then & Forever

September

September is in A major at 126.4 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

126 BPM · Allegromedian of 279 analyses · 126.1–126.5 across the middle eight tenths
Key
A major3 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
99%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
279people who ran the extractor
One beat
474.7milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
445.4Hz · +21 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.7dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.887Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.371Essentia'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

279 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 99% — put it in A major, a key signature of 3 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 279 readings; 98% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 126.4 BPM one beat lasts 474.7 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 118.7 ms and a dotted eighth 356 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 63.2 BPM, counted twice as fast 252.8. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 445.4 Hz, which is 21 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 3.7 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 0.887 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 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 126 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41898.70.53
Half note2949.41.05
Dotted quarter1.57121.4
Quarter note (one beat)1474.72.11
Quarter triplet0.667316.53.16
Dotted eighth0.753562.81
Eighth note0.5237.34.21
Eighth triplet0.333158.26.32
Dotted sixteenth0.3751785.62
Sixteenth note0.25118.78.43
Sixteenth triplet0.16779.112.64
Thirty-second note0.12559.316.85

Half time 63.2 BPM · double time 252.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (474.7 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Sweet Home ChicagoBlues BrothersA major126BPM
  2. Wasted WordsThe Allman Brothers BandA major127BPM
  3. Rebel RebelDavid BowieA major126BPM
  4. Brilliant DisguiseBruce SpringsteenA major126BPM
  5. Across the LinesTracy ChapmanA major126BPM
  6. Bob Dylan’s BluesBob DylanA major126BPM
  7. I Want to Tell YouThe BeatlesA major127BPM
  8. Truckin’Grateful DeadA major127BPM
  9. What Do You Do for Money HoneyAC/DCA major126BPM
  10. Get Off of My CloudThe Rolling StonesA major126BPM

Recordings in A major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 126 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in A majorAll songs at 126 BPMA major at 120–129 BPMEarth, Wind & Fire

MusicBrainz collapses 58 recording ids into this one. Recording id 661d35c3-6ade-4367-af96-6c2898149906.