Nine Inch Nails · The Downward Spiral
March of the Pigs
March of the Pigs is in D minor at 134.5 beats per minute.
Tempo
135 BPM · Allegromedian of 193 analyses · 134.5–134.6 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- D minor1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 90%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 193people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 446.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 8.14dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.784Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.018Essentia'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
193 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 90% — put it in D minor, a key signature of 1 flat. The tempo printed above is the median of the 193 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 134.5 BPM one beat lasts 446.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 111.5 ms and a dotted eighth 334.6 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 67.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 269. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.2 Hz, which is 23 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 8.14 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 0.784 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 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 D minor
Each of these differs from D 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 135 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1784.4 | 0.56 |
| Half note | 2 | 892.2 | 1.12 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 669.1 | 1.49 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 446.1 | 2.24 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 297.4 | 3.36 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 334.6 | 2.99 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 223 | 4.48 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 148.7 | 6.73 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 167.3 | 5.98 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 111.5 | 8.97 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 74.3 | 13.45 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 55.8 | 17.93 |
Half time 67.3 BPM · double time 269 BPM. Every row is one beat (446.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Jesus Christ PoseSoundgardenD minor135BPM
- It Was a Very Good YearFrank SinatraD minor135BPM
- Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)Billy JoelD minor133BPM
- Lay All Your Love on MeABBAD minor133BPM
- Treat Me RightPat BenatarD minor136BPM
- It Ain’t EasyDavid BowieD minor133BPM
- Ohne dichRammsteinD minor136BPM
- Rock! Rock! (Till You Drop)Def LeppardD minor133BPM
- N.S.U.CreamD minor136BPM
- RicochetDavid BowieD minor136BPM
Recordings in D minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 135 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in D minorAll songs at 135 BPMD minor at 130–139 BPMNine Inch Nails
MusicBrainz collapses 200 recording ids into this one. Recording id 787cf6d0-a44b-4562-aa5c-5c4b244576c6.