The Clash · London Calling

Train in Vain

Train in Vain is in A major at 122.7 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

123 BPM · Allegromedian of 147 analyses · 121.3–122.8 across the middle eight tenths
Key
A major3 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
77%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
147people who ran the extractor
One beat
489milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
437.2Hz · -11 cents from A 440
Dynamics
5.25dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.898Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.332Essentia'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 — 77% — put it in A major, a key signature of 3 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 147 readings; 97% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 121.3 to 122.8 BPM.

At 122.7 BPM one beat lasts 489 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 122.2 ms and a dotted eighth 366.7 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 61.4 BPM, counted twice as fast 245.4. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 437.2 Hz, which is 11 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 5.25 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 0.898 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 A 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 A major

Each of these differs from A 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 123 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note419560.51
Half note29781.02
Dotted quarter1.5733.51.36
Quarter note (one beat)14892.05
Quarter triplet0.6673263.07
Dotted eighth0.75366.72.73
Eighth note0.5244.54.09
Eighth triplet0.3331636.14
Dotted sixteenth0.375183.45.45
Sixteenth note0.25122.28.18
Sixteenth triplet0.16781.512.27
Thirty-second note0.12561.116.36

Half time 61.4 BPM · double time 245.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (489 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Sing a SongEarth, Wind & FireA major123BPM
  2. Please Mister PostmanThe BeatlesA major123BPM
  3. Is This LoveBob Marley & The WailersA major123BPM
  4. Don’t Leave Me NowPink FloydA major123BPM
  5. KidsMGMTA major123BPM
  6. Boys Boys BoysLady GagaA major123BPM
  7. Words of LoveThe BeatlesA major122BPM
  8. Treat Me RightBackstreet BoysA major122BPM
  9. West CoastLana Del ReyA major123BPM
  10. AuroraFoo FightersA major123BPM

Recordings in A major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 123 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in A majorAll songs at 123 BPMA major at 120–129 BPMThe Clash

MusicBrainz collapses 40 recording ids into this one. Recording id e0cf6219-a871-44ca-af9a-f073dfa6c795.