The Police · Ghost in the Machine

Spirits in the Material World

Spirits in the Material World is in C major at 141.2 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

141 BPM · Allegromedian of 225 analyses · 140.9–141.2 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
90%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
225people who ran the extractor
One beat
424.9milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
442Hz · +8 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.64dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.804Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.319Essentia'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

225 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 90% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 225 readings; 92% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 141.2 BPM one beat lasts 424.9 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 106.2 ms and a dotted eighth 318.7 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 70.6 BPM, counted twice as fast 282.4. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 442 Hz, which is 8 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 4.64 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 0.804 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 141 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41699.70.59
Half note2849.91.18
Dotted quarter1.5637.41.57
Quarter note (one beat)1424.92.35
Quarter triplet0.667283.33.53
Dotted eighth0.75318.73.14
Eighth note0.5212.54.71
Eighth triplet0.333141.67.06
Dotted sixteenth0.375159.36.28
Sixteenth note0.25106.29.41
Sixteenth triplet0.16770.814.12
Thirty-second note0.12553.118.83

Half time 70.6 BPM · double time 282.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (424.9 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. U + Ur HandP!nkC major141BPM
  2. DreamsVan HalenC major141BPM
  3. Mr. JonesCounting CrowsC major142BPM
  4. An Occasional DreamDavid BowieC major142BPM
  5. Dr. FeelgoodAretha FranklinC major140BPM
  6. HeavenBryan AdamsC major140BPM
  7. Sweetest Thing (the single mix)U2C major142BPM
  8. Amen OmenBen HarperC major142BPM
  9. AmazingAerosmithC major140BPM
  10. Jingle Bell RockNeil DiamondC major140BPM

Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 141 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in C majorAll songs at 141 BPMC major at 140–149 BPMThe Police

MusicBrainz collapses 45 recording ids into this one. Recording id c2a56b2c-606b-45cf-8513-bc0b3754af5e.