TempoPeek

The Velvet Underground · The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Black Angel’s Death Song

The Black Angel’s Death Song is in C major at 120.9 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

121 BPM · Allegromedian of 198 analyses · 119.8–122.8 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
91%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
198people who ran the extractor
One beat
496.3milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
446.7Hz · +26 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.28dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.448Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.039Essentia'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

198 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 91% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 198 readings; 90% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 119.8 to 122.8 BPM.

At 120.9 BPM one beat lasts 496.3 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 124.1 ms and a dotted eighth 372.2 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 60.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 241.8. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 446.7 Hz, which is 26 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 3.28 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 0.448 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 121 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41985.10.5
Half note2992.61.01
Dotted quarter1.5744.41.34
Quarter note (one beat)1496.32.02
Quarter triplet0.667330.93.02
Dotted eighth0.75372.22.69
Eighth note0.5248.14.03
Eighth triplet0.333165.46.05
Dotted sixteenth0.375186.15.37
Sixteenth note0.25124.18.06
Sixteenth triplet0.16782.712.09
Thirty-second note0.1256216.12

Half time 60.5 BPM · double time 241.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (496.3 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. The Look of LoveABCC major121BPM
  2. Private EyesDaryl Hall & John OatesC major121BPM
  3. New York State of MindBilly JoelC major121BPM
  4. The SoundThe 1975C major121BPM
  5. SussudioPhil CollinsC major121BPM
  6. The Anchor SongBjörkC major121BPM
  7. 100 YearsFive for FightingC major121BPM
  8. Presence of the LordBlind FaithC major120BPM
  9. Kiss on My ListDaryl Hall & John OatesC major122BPM
  10. SorrowDavid BowieC major120BPM

Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 121 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in C majorAll songs at 121 BPMC major at 120–129 BPMThe Velvet Underground

MusicBrainz collapses 12 recording ids into this one. Recording id 0c622c34-988b-4e7c-bab1-4a165e6d74ec.