TempoPeek

Red Hot Chili Peppers · Californication

Californication

Californication is in F major at 97 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

97 BPM · Andantemedian of 301 analyses · 96.9–97 across the middle eight tenths
Key
F major1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
80%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
301people who ran the extractor
One beat
618.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
438Hz · -8 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.39dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.87Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
0.992Essentia'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

301 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 80% — put it in F major, a key signature of 1 flat. The tempo printed above is the median of the 301 readings; 97% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 97 BPM one beat lasts 618.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 154.6 ms and a dotted eighth 463.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 48.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 194. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 438 Hz, which is 8 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 3.39 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 0.87 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 97 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42474.20.4
Half note21237.10.81
Dotted quarter1.5927.81.08
Quarter note (one beat)1618.61.62
Quarter triplet0.667412.42.43
Dotted eighth0.75463.92.16
Eighth note0.5309.33.23
Eighth triplet0.333206.24.85
Dotted sixteenth0.3752324.31
Sixteenth note0.25154.66.47
Sixteenth triplet0.167103.19.7
Thirty-second note0.12577.312.93

Half time 48.5 BPM · double time 194 BPM. Every row is one beat (618.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Alarm CallBjörkF major97BPM
  2. Amazing DayColdplayF major97BPM
  3. YesterdayThe BeatlesF major97BPM
  4. All You Had to Do Was StayTaylor SwiftF major97BPM
  5. Everybody Needs Somebody to LoveBlues BrothersF major97BPM
  6. Falling Into YouCéline DionF major97BPM
  7. Never Tear Us ApartINXSF major97BPM
  8. What If I Do?Foo FightersF major97BPM
  9. These StreetsBastilleF major97BPM
  10. Love Don’t Cost a ThingJennifer LopezF major98BPM

Recordings in F major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 97 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in F majorAll songs at 97 BPMF major at 90–99 BPMRed Hot Chili Peppers

MusicBrainz collapses 57 recording ids into this one. Recording id 084a24a9-b289-4584-9fb5-1ca0f7500eb3.