The B‐52s · The B‐52’s
Rock Lobster
Rock Lobster is in C minor at 90.7 beats per minute.
Tempo
91 BPM · Andantemedian of 238 analyses · 90.5–90.7 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- C minor3 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 100%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 238people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 661.5milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 445.9Hz · +23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 3.62dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.41Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.209Essentia'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
238 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 100% — put it in C minor, a key signature of 3 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 238 readings; 99% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 90.7 BPM one beat lasts 661.5 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 165.4 ms and a dotted eighth 496.1 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 45.4 BPM, counted twice as fast 181.4. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 445.9 Hz, which is 23 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 3.62 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 0.41 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 minor; 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 minor
Each of these differs from C minor 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 91 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2646.1 | 0.38 |
| Half note | 2 | 1323 | 0.76 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 992.3 | 1.01 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 661.5 | 1.51 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 441 | 2.27 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 496.1 | 2.02 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 330.8 | 3.02 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 220.5 | 4.54 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 248.1 | 4.03 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 165.4 | 6.05 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 110.3 | 9.07 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 82.7 | 12.09 |
Half time 45.4 BPM · double time 181.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (661.5 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Hymn for the WeekendColdplayC minor90BPM
- Wheel of FortuneAce of BaseC minor92BPM
- Amar haciendo el amorCéline DionC minor92BPM
- Beautiful Liar (remix)Beyoncé and ShakiraC minor92BPM
- HunterDidoC minor92BPM
- Mother LoveQueenC minor92BPM
- Beautiful LiarBeyoncé and ShakiraC minor92BPM
- One in a MillionBackstreet BoysC minor92BPM
- Holy DiverDioC minor92BPM
- Electric CityThe Black Eyed PeasC minor89BPM
Recordings in C minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 91 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in C minorAll songs at 91 BPMC minor at 90–99 BPMThe B‐52s
MusicBrainz collapses 46 recording ids into this one. Recording id af6703f8-de60-46f0-aa48-de5916867ccc.