King Crimson · Discipline
The Sheltering Sky
The Sheltering Sky is in E minor at 125.3 beats per minute.
Tempo
125 BPM · Allegromedian of 157 analyses · 104.3–172.3 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- E minor1 sharp · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 82%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 157people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 478.9milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 441.3Hz · +5 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 3.85dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.77Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.122Essentia'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
157 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 82% — put it in E minor, a key signature of 1 sharp. The tempo printed above is the median of the 157 readings; 54% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 104.3 to 172.3 BPM.
At 125.3 BPM one beat lasts 478.9 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 119.7 ms and a dotted eighth 359.1 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 62.7 BPM, counted twice as fast 250.6. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.3 Hz, which is 5 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 3.85 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 0.77 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 E 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 E minor
Each of these differs from E 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 125 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1915.4 | 0.52 |
| Half note | 2 | 957.7 | 1.04 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 718.3 | 1.39 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 478.9 | 2.09 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 319.2 | 3.13 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 359.1 | 2.78 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 239.4 | 4.18 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 159.6 | 6.27 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 179.6 | 5.57 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 119.7 | 8.35 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 79.8 | 12.53 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 59.9 | 16.71 |
Half time 62.7 BPM · double time 250.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (478.9 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Step by StepNew Kids on the BlockE minor125BPM
- Du hastRammsteinE minor125BPM
- Bodak Yellow (Money Moves)Cardi BE minor125BPM
- Too CloseAlex ClareE minor126BPM
- Heart Upon My SleeveAviciiE minor126BPM
- Hail CaesarAC/DCE minor126BPM
- Revolution 909Daft PunkE minor126BPM
- A Horse With No NameAmericaE minor124BPM
- Cracked ActorDavid BowieE minor127BPM
- Voulez‐vousABBAE minor127BPM
Recordings in E minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 125 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in E minorAll songs at 125 BPME minor at 120–129 BPMKing Crimson
MusicBrainz collapses 29 recording ids into this one. Recording id e3f0fbb1-a66a-43df-b104-e5ea1e9d9cb5.