Radiohead · The Bends
Black Star
Black Star is in G major at 161.6 beats per minute.
Tempo
162 BPM · Vivacemedian of 179 analyses · 156.1–161.7 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- G major1 sharp · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 93%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 179people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 371.3milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 450.5Hz · +41 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 2.54dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.966Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 0.979Essentia'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
179 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 93% — put it in G major, a key signature of 1 sharp. The tempo printed above is the median of the 179 readings; 72% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 156.1 to 161.7 BPM.
At 161.6 BPM one beat lasts 371.3 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 92.8 ms and a dotted eighth 278.5 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 80.8 BPM, counted twice as fast 323.2. A score would mark that Vivace, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 450.5 Hz, which is 41 cents above concert A at 440 Hz — far enough that playing along at 440 Hz will sound wrong. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.
The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 2.54 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 0.966 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 G 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 G major
Each of these differs from G 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 162 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1485.1 | 0.67 |
| Half note | 2 | 742.6 | 1.35 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 556.9 | 1.8 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 371.3 | 2.69 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 247.5 | 4.04 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 278.5 | 3.59 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 185.6 | 5.39 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 123.8 | 8.08 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 139.2 | 7.18 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 92.8 | 10.77 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 61.9 | 16.16 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 46.4 | 21.55 |
Half time 80.8 BPM · double time 323.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (371.3 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- To Love a WomanLionel Richie feat. Enrique IglesiasG major162BPM
- More Than ThatBackstreet BoysG major162BPM
- InconsolableBackstreet BoysG major162BPM
- Slipped AwayAvril LavigneG major162BPM
- So LongABBAG major162BPM
- Leaving Las VegasSheryl CrowG major162BPM
- I’m a BelieverThe MonkeesG major162BPM
- Sugar, We’re Goin DownFall Out BoyG major162BPM
- Play for TodayThe CureG major162BPM
- Driver 8R.E.M.G major162BPM
Recordings in G major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 162 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in G majorAll songs at 162 BPMG major at 160–169 BPMRadiohead
MusicBrainz collapses 38 recording ids into this one. Recording id e949857d-94d3-4e54-a9e6-af6bc1caf43d.