TempoPeek

Nine Inch Nails · The Downward Spiral

The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)

The Downward Spiral (The Bottom) is in F major at 100.2 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

100 BPM · Andantemedian of 136 analyses · 100–100.4 across the middle eight tenths
Key
F major1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
82%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
136people who ran the extractor
One beat
598.8milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
Dynamics
6.92dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.124Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
0.982Essentia'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

136 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 82% — put it in F major, a key signature of 1 flat. The tempo printed above is the median of the 136 readings; 99% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 100.2 BPM one beat lasts 598.8 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 149.7 ms and a dotted eighth 449.1 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 50.1 BPM, counted twice as fast 200.4. A score would mark that Andante, 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 6.92 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 0.124 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 F 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 F major

Each of these differs from F 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 100 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42395.20.42
Half note21197.60.84
Dotted quarter1.5898.21.11
Quarter note (one beat)1598.81.67
Quarter triplet0.667399.22.51
Dotted eighth0.75449.12.23
Eighth note0.5299.43.34
Eighth triplet0.333199.65.01
Dotted sixteenth0.375224.64.45
Sixteenth note0.25149.76.68
Sixteenth triplet0.16799.810.02
Thirty-second note0.12574.913.36

Half time 50.1 BPM · double time 200.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (598.8 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. LDNLily AllenF major100BPM
  2. We’re in This TogetherNine Inch NailsF major100BPM
  3. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)The BandF major100BPM
  4. Florida KilosLana Del ReyF major101BPM
  5. StarmanDavid BowieF major101BPM
  6. OverDrakeF major101BPM
  7. Slow MotionScannerF major100BPM
  8. I Want YouBob DylanF major100BPM
  9. Part of Your WorldJodi BensonF major100BPM
  10. It’s Only LoveBryan Adams with Tina TurnerF major101BPM

Recordings in F major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 100 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in F majorAll songs at 100 BPMF major at 100–109 BPMNine Inch Nails

MusicBrainz collapses 1 recording id into this one. Recording id f531393f-e6f9-4dba-b740-bff5cff08b37.