Radiohead · The Bends
The Bends
The Bends is in C major at 90.3 beats per minute.
Tempo
90 BPM · Andantemedian of 147 analyses · 90.3–90.4 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 93%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 147people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 664.5milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 448.7Hz · +34 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 3.73dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.92Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 0.914Essentia'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
147 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 93% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 147 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 90.3 BPM one beat lasts 664.5 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 166.1 ms and a dotted eighth 498.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 45.2 BPM, counted twice as fast 180.6. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 448.7 Hz, which is 34 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 3.73 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 0.92 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 C 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 C major
Each of these differs from C 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 90 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2657.8 | 0.38 |
| Half note | 2 | 1328.9 | 0.75 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 996.7 | 1 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 664.5 | 1.51 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 443 | 2.26 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 498.3 | 2.01 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 332.2 | 3.01 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 221.5 | 4.51 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 249.2 | 4.01 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 166.1 | 6.02 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 110.7 | 9.03 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 83.1 | 12.04 |
Half time 45.2 BPM · double time 180.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (664.5 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Best of My LoveEaglesC major90BPM
- (Forever) Live and Die (7″ mix)Orchestral Manoeuvres in the DarkC major90BPM
- In the Sweet By and ByJohnny CashC major90BPM
- I RobotThe Alan Parsons ProjectC major91BPM
- LonelyAkonC major90BPM
- The Game of LoveDaft PunkC major90BPM
- The Downeaster “Alexa”Billy JoelC major90BPM
- WhyAnnie LennoxC major91BPM
- Bemsha SwingJohn Coltrane & Don CherryC major90BPM
- Universal TravelerAirC major91BPM
Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 90 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in C majorAll songs at 90 BPMC major at 90–99 BPMRadiohead
MusicBrainz collapses 179 recording ids into this one. Recording id ad922fb0-f2ac-4d47-803f-a61cfa69117e.