Aretha Franklin · Soul '69
River’s Invitation
River’s Invitation is in B flat major at 87.3 beats per minute.
Tempo
87 BPM · Andantemedian of 181 analyses · 87.3–87.4 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- B♭ major2 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 100%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 181people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 687.3milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 441.5Hz · +6 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 5.52dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.559Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 0.964Essentia'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
181 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 100% — put it in B flat major, a key signature of 2 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 181 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 87.3 BPM one beat lasts 687.3 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 171.8 ms and a dotted eighth 515.5 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 43.7 BPM, counted twice as fast 174.6. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.5 Hz, which is 6 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 5.52 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 0.559 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 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 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 87 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2749.1 | 0.36 |
| Half note | 2 | 1374.6 | 0.73 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 1030.9 | 0.97 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 687.3 | 1.45 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 458.2 | 2.18 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 515.5 | 1.94 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 343.6 | 2.91 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 229.1 | 4.37 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 257.7 | 3.88 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 171.8 | 5.82 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 114.5 | 8.73 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 85.9 | 11.64 |
Half time 43.7 BPM · double time 174.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (687.3 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Be the OneDua LipaB♭ major88BPM
- Mad WorldMichael Andrews feat. Gary JulesB♭ major87BPM
- Love the Way You LieEminem feat. RihannaB♭ major87BPM
- Summer WindFrank SinatraB♭ major88BPM
- I’ll Still Kill50 Cent feat. AkonB♭ major88BPM
- Return to InnocenceEnigmaB♭ major88BPM
- Let ’Em InWingsB♭ major88BPM
- Mercedes BenzJanis JoplinB♭ major88BPM
- Happy Xmas (War Is Over)Céline DionB♭ major86BPM
- Started From the BottomDrakeB♭ major86BPM
Recordings in B flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 87 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in B flat majorAll songs at 87 BPMB♭ major at 80–89 BPMAretha Franklin
MusicBrainz collapses 1 recording id into this one. Recording id b1ec9241-38cd-4141-86a8-b679be65a2cb.