TempoPeek

Foo Fighters · Wasting Light

A Matter of Time

A Matter of Time is in A major at 86.7 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

87 BPM · Andantemedian of 149 analyses · 86.7–172.3 across the middle eight tenths
Key
A major3 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
97%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
149people who ran the extractor
One beat
692milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
437.5Hz · -10 cents from A 440
Dynamics
2.53dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.901Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.184Essentia'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

149 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 97% — put it in A major, a key signature of 3 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 149 readings; 87% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 86.7 to 172.3 BPM.

At 86.7 BPM one beat lasts 692 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 173 ms and a dotted eighth 519 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 43.4 BPM, counted twice as fast 173.4. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 437.5 Hz, which is 10 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 2.53 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 0.901 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 87 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42768.20.36
Half note21384.10.72
Dotted quarter1.51038.10.96
Quarter note (one beat)16921.45
Quarter triplet0.667461.42.17
Dotted eighth0.755191.93
Eighth note0.53462.89
Eighth triplet0.333230.74.34
Dotted sixteenth0.375259.53.85
Sixteenth note0.251735.78
Sixteenth triplet0.167115.38.67
Thirty-second note0.12586.511.56

Half time 43.4 BPM · double time 173.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (692 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Year of tha BoomerangRage Against the MachineA major87BPM
  2. Neon BibleArcade FireA major87BPM
  3. Roll RightRage Against the MachineA major87BPM
  4. Izzo (H.O.V.A.)Jay‐ZA major87BPM
  5. Sleep Like a Baby TonightU2A major86BPM
  6. Heat50 CentA major86BPM
  7. A DreamJay‐Z feat. Faith Evans & Notorious B.I.G.A major86BPM
  8. Love Is Stronger Than PrideSadeA major88BPM
  9. Black SunDeath Cab for CutieA major88BPM
  10. She Looks to MeRed Hot Chili PeppersA major88BPM

Recordings in A major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 87 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in A majorAll songs at 87 BPMA major at 80–89 BPMFoo Fighters

MusicBrainz collapses 7 recording ids into this one. Recording id 7fcc0602-a9fb-4c90-8fb5-a660e33e8421.