Van Halen · 1984
1984
1984 is in B major at 114.1 beats per minute.
Tempo
114 BPM · Moderatomedian of 158 analyses · 112.3–172.3 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- B major5 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 92%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 158people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 525.9milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.4Hz · -22 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 4.34dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.601Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 0.859Essentia'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
158 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 92% — put it in B major, a key signature of 5 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 158 readings; 63% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 112.3 to 172.3 BPM.
At 114.1 BPM one beat lasts 525.9 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 131.5 ms and a dotted eighth 394.4 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 57.1 BPM, counted twice as fast 228.2. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.4 Hz, which is 22 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 4.34 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 0.601 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 B 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 B major
Each of these differs from B 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 114 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2103.4 | 0.48 |
| Half note | 2 | 1051.7 | 0.95 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 788.8 | 1.27 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 525.9 | 1.9 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 350.6 | 2.85 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 394.4 | 2.54 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 262.9 | 3.8 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 175.3 | 5.71 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 197.2 | 5.07 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 131.5 | 7.61 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 87.6 | 11.41 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 65.7 | 15.21 |
Half time 57.1 BPM · double time 228.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (525.9 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
The same title by somebody else
Matched on the title alone, so this list can hold a different song that happens to share a name. Nothing here claims one is a cover of the other.
Closest in key and tempo
- California GirlsThe Beach BoysB major115BPM
- Mr. DayJohn ColtraneB major113BPM
- CondemnationDepeche ModeB major116BPM
- Word UpCameoB major116BPM
- Lolita (trop jeune pour aimer)Céline DionB major116BPM
- Fluorescent AdolescentArctic MonkeysB major112BPM
- SchoolCalvin HarrisB major112BPM
- Tumbling DiceThe Rolling StonesB major111BPM
- Hole in the SkyBlack SabbathB major117BPM
- Little GreenJoni MitchellB major111BPM
Recordings in B major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 114 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in B majorAll songs at 114 BPMB major at 110–119 BPMVan Halen
MusicBrainz collapses 5 recording ids into this one. Recording id 0ada0ba2-3099-4438-8f55-de987350de44.