Leonard Cohen · New Skin for the Old Ceremony
Who by Fire
Who by Fire is in A minor at 154.5 beats per minute.
Tempo
155 BPM · Allegromedian of 156 analyses · 152.8–154.7 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- A minorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 85%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 156people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 388.3milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 437Hz · -12 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 8.72dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.291Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.094Essentia'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
156 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 85% — put it in A minor, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 156 readings; 93% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 152.8 to 154.7 BPM.
At 154.5 BPM one beat lasts 388.3 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 97.1 ms and a dotted eighth 291.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 77.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 309. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 437 Hz, which is 12 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 8.72 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 0.291 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 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 A minor
Each of these differs from A 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 155 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1553.4 | 0.64 |
| Half note | 2 | 776.7 | 1.29 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 582.5 | 1.72 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 388.3 | 2.58 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 258.9 | 3.86 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 291.3 | 3.43 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 194.2 | 5.15 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 129.4 | 7.73 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 145.6 | 6.87 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 97.1 | 10.3 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 64.7 | 15.45 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 48.5 | 20.6 |
Half time 77.3 BPM · double time 309 BPM. Every row is one beat (388.3 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Sir Psycho SexyRed Hot Chili PeppersA minor154BPM
- Une colombeCéline DionA minor155BPM
- WelcomeChristina AguileraA minor155BPM
- It Could Be SweetPortisheadA minor154BPM
- Wooden ShipsCrosby, Stills & NashA minor155BPM
- Those ShoesEaglesA minor155BPM
- So Much Trouble in the WorldBob Marley & The WailersA minor155BPM
- Ain’t No SunshineBill WithersA minor155BPM
- BlackPearl JamA minor154BPM
- SaraBob DylanA minor156BPM
Recordings in A minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 155 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in A minorAll songs at 155 BPMA minor at 150–159 BPMLeonard Cohen
MusicBrainz collapses 52 recording ids into this one. Recording id 9313208d-480f-49fc-8616-ad13273e80a3.