Talking Heads · Remain in Light
Once in a Lifetime
Once in a Lifetime is in D major at 117.4 beats per minute.
Tempo
117 BPM · Moderatomedian of 178 analyses · 116.8–117.5 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 96%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 178people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 511.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 435.7Hz · -17 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 3.57dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.9Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.447Essentia'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
178 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 96% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 178 readings; 90% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 117.4 BPM one beat lasts 511.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 127.8 ms and a dotted eighth 383.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 58.7 BPM, counted twice as fast 234.8. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 435.7 Hz, which is 17 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 3.57 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 0.9 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 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 D major
Each of these differs from D 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 117 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2044.3 | 0.49 |
| Half note | 2 | 1022.1 | 0.98 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 766.6 | 1.3 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 511.1 | 1.96 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 340.7 | 2.94 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 383.3 | 2.61 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 255.5 | 3.91 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 170.4 | 5.87 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 191.7 | 5.22 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 127.8 | 7.83 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 85.2 | 11.74 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 63.9 | 15.65 |
Half time 58.7 BPM · double time 234.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (511.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- QuicksandDavid BowieD major118BPM
- A Sort of HomecomingU2D major118BPM
- Strobe LightThe B‐52sD major117BPM
- SpiderheadCage the ElephantD major118BPM
- Mother Popcorn, Part 1James BrownD major117BPM
- ❦ (Guitar)alt‐JD major117BPM
- Nobody Told MeJohn Lennon & Yoko OnoD major118BPM
- Monkey Gone to HeavenPixiesD major117BPM
- TragedyBee GeesD major118BPM
- Universally SpeakingRed Hot Chili PeppersD major117BPM
Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 117 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in D majorAll songs at 117 BPMD major at 110–119 BPMTalking Heads
MusicBrainz collapses 50 recording ids into this one. Recording id 7ce86631-ab98-4814-b2e0-ec13f8a4d658.