Arcade Fire · Neon Bible

Black Wave/Bad Vibrations

Black Wave/Bad Vibrations is in C minor at 121 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

121 BPM · Allegromedian of 131 analyses · 120.9–121 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C minor3 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
92%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
131people who ran the extractor
One beat
495.9milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.01dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.844Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.093Essentia'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

131 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 92% — put it in C minor, a key signature of 3 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 131 readings; 99% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 121 BPM one beat lasts 495.9 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 124 ms and a dotted eighth 371.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 60.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 242. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.2 Hz, which is 23 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 3.01 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 0.844 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 minor; 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 minor

Each of these differs from C minor 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 note41983.50.5
Half note2991.71.01
Dotted quarter1.5743.81.34
Quarter note (one beat)1495.92.02
Quarter triplet0.667330.63.03
Dotted eighth0.75371.92.69
Eighth note0.5247.94.03
Eighth triplet0.333165.36.05
Dotted sixteenth0.3751865.38
Sixteenth note0.251248.07
Sixteenth triplet0.16782.612.1
Thirty-second note0.1256216.13

Half time 60.5 BPM · double time 242 BPM. Every row is one beat (495.9 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. The Logical SongSupertrampC minor121BPM
  2. Glory BoxPortisheadC minor120BPM
  3. SunnyBoney M.C minor122BPM
  4. Young and ProudAce of BaseC minor120BPM
  5. LiquorZZ TopC minor120BPM
  6. It’s My LifeBon JoviC minor120BPM
  7. Take CareDrake feat. RihannaC minor122BPM
  8. Dust Bowl DanceMumford & SonsC minor120BPM
  9. You Give Love a Bad NameBon JoviC minor123BPM
  10. Since I’ve Been Loving YouLed ZeppelinC minor118BPM

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

All songs in C minorAll songs at 121 BPMC minor at 120–129 BPMArcade Fire

MusicBrainz collapses 5 recording ids into this one. Recording id 7f9b0c6e-0d61-4556-8501-f675bebc5cae.