AC/DC · Highway to Hell
Highway to Hell
Highway to Hell is in D flat major at 116.6 beats per minute.
Tempo
117 BPM · Moderatomedian of 685 analyses · 115.4–123.9 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- D♭ major5 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 81%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 685people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 514.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 452.9Hz · +50 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 3.72dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.813Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.21Essentia'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
685 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 81% — put it in D flat major, a key signature of 5 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 685 readings; 78% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 115.4 to 123.9 BPM.
At 116.6 BPM one beat lasts 514.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 128.6 ms and a dotted eighth 385.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 58.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 233.2. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 452.9 Hz, which is 50 cents above concert A at 440 Hz — far enough that playing along at 440 Hz will sound wrong. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.
The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 3.72 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 0.813 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 D flat 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 D♭ major
Each of these differs from D♭ 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 117 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2058.3 | 0.49 |
| Half note | 2 | 1029.2 | 0.97 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 771.9 | 1.3 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 514.6 | 1.94 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 343.1 | 2.92 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 385.9 | 2.59 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 257.3 | 3.89 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 171.5 | 5.83 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 193 | 5.18 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 128.6 | 7.77 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 85.8 | 11.66 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 64.3 | 15.55 |
Half time 58.3 BPM · double time 233.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (514.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- A MessageColdplayD♭ major117BPM
- Big TimePeter GabrielD♭ major116BPM
- She’s AmericanThe 1975D♭ major116BPM
- LaylaDerek and the DominosD♭ major116BPM
- Rise UpAndra DayD♭ major118BPM
- Soft and WetPrinceD♭ major115BPM
- Perfect StrangersJonas Blue featuring JP.CooperD♭ major118BPM
- The Mother We ShareCHVRCHESD♭ major115BPM
- SCAR070 Shake & Jessie ReyezD♭ major118BPM
- Serial ThrillaProdigyD♭ major118BPM
Recordings in D flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 117 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in D flat majorAll songs at 117 BPMD♭ major at 110–119 BPMAC/DC
MusicBrainz collapses 196 recording ids into this one. Recording id 5935ec91-8124-42ff-937f-f31a20ffe58f.