Beastie Boys · Ill Communication
Transitions
Transitions is in B flat major at 89.1 beats per minute.
Tempo
89 BPM · Andantemedian of 143 analyses · 89–89.1 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- B♭ major2 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 97%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 143people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 673.4milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 439.2Hz · -3 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 5.94dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.039Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.127Essentia'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
143 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 97% — put it in B flat major, a key signature of 2 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 143 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 89.1 BPM one beat lasts 673.4 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 168.4 ms and a dotted eighth 505.1 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 44.6 BPM, counted twice as fast 178.2. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 439.2 Hz, which is 3 cents below concert A at 440 Hz — close enough to standard that a tuner would not argue. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.
The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 5.94 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 0.039 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 89 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2693.6 | 0.37 |
| Half note | 2 | 1346.8 | 0.74 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 1010.1 | 0.99 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 673.4 | 1.49 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 448.9 | 2.23 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 505.1 | 1.98 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 336.7 | 2.97 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 224.5 | 4.46 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 252.5 | 3.96 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 168.4 | 5.94 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 112.2 | 8.91 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 84.2 | 11.88 |
Half time 44.6 BPM · double time 178.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (673.4 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Martha My DearThe BeatlesB♭ major89BPM
- Emenius SleepusGreen DayB♭ major89BPM
- O‐o‐h ChildThe Five StairstepsB♭ major89BPM
- You Know You’re RightNirvanaB♭ major89BPM
- I’m Like a BirdNelly FurtadoB♭ major90BPM
- These Arms of MineOtis ReddingB♭ major89BPM
- Don’t Know WhyNorah JonesB♭ major89BPM
- Sometimes (mix #9)Erykah BaduB♭ major90BPM
- Straight to the Bank50 CentB♭ major90BPM
- Hurts Like HeavenColdplayB♭ major90BPM
Recordings in B flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 89 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in B flat majorAll songs at 89 BPMB♭ major at 80–89 BPMBeastie Boys
MusicBrainz collapses 2 recording ids into this one. Recording id db6062d6-580b-483f-b94b-7f49f357bc5a.