TempoPeek

Billy Idol · Whiplash Smile

To Be a Lover

To Be a Lover is in F minor at 92.2 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

92 BPM · Andantemedian of 281 analyses · 92.1–92.2 across the middle eight tenths
Key
F minor4 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
73%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
281people who ran the extractor
One beat
650.8milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
437Hz · -12 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.76dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.922Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.139Essentia'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

281 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. A bare majority of them — 73% — put it in F minor, a key signature of 4 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 281 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 92.2 BPM one beat lasts 650.8 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 162.7 ms and a dotted eighth 488.1 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 46.1 BPM, counted twice as fast 184.4. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 437 Hz, which is 12 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 3.76 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 0.922 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 F 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 F minor

Each of these differs from F 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 92 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note426030.38
Half note21301.50.77
Dotted quarter1.5976.11.02
Quarter note (one beat)1650.81.54
Quarter triplet0.667433.82.3
Dotted eighth0.75488.12.05
Eighth note0.5325.43.07
Eighth triplet0.333216.94.61
Dotted sixteenth0.3752444.1
Sixteenth note0.25162.76.15
Sixteenth triplet0.167108.59.22
Thirty-second note0.12581.312.29

Half time 46.1 BPM · double time 184.4 BPM. Every row is one beat (650.8 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Out of the WoodsTaylor SwiftF minor92BPM
  2. Pleasure Is All MineBjörkF minor92BPM
  3. One More NightMaroon 5F minor93BPM
  4. Baby BoyBeyoncé feat. Sean PaulF minor91BPM
  5. Life’s on the Line50 CentF minor94BPM
  6. I Don’t Wanna Lose YouTina TurnerF minor94BPM
  7. In My Hood50 CentF minor90BPM
  8. CriminalFiona AppleF minor90BPM
  9. Car ThiefBeastie BoysF minor90BPM
  10. Dale Don más duroDon Omar feat. GloryF minor95BPM

Recordings in F minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 92 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in F minorAll songs at 92 BPMF minor at 90–99 BPMBilly Idol

MusicBrainz collapses 16 recording ids into this one. Recording id f77a9a47-f09f-427a-9d39-f47158d54b6f.