Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band · Trout Mask Replica
Sweet Sweet Bulbs
Sweet Sweet Bulbs is in E minor at 147.1 beats per minute.
Tempo
147 BPM · Allegromedian of 148 analyses · 147.1–147.2 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- E minor1 sharp · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 93%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 148people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 407.9milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 441.8Hz · +7 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 3.79dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.733Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.098Essentia'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
148 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 93% — put it in E minor, a key signature of 1 sharp. The tempo printed above is the median of the 148 readings; 98% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 147.1 BPM one beat lasts 407.9 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 102 ms and a dotted eighth 305.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 73.6 BPM, counted twice as fast 294.2. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.8 Hz, which is 7 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 3.79 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 0.733 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 E 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 E minor
Each of these differs from E 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 147 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1631.5 | 0.61 |
| Half note | 2 | 815.8 | 1.23 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 611.8 | 1.63 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 407.9 | 2.45 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 271.9 | 3.68 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 305.9 | 3.27 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 203.9 | 4.9 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 136 | 7.36 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 153 | 6.54 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 102 | 9.81 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 68 | 14.71 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 51 | 19.61 |
Half time 73.6 BPM · double time 294.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (407.9 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- El cóndor pasa (If I Could)Simon & GarfunkelE minor148BPM
- Achilles Last StandLed ZeppelinE minor147BPM
- MaroonedPink FloydE minor148BPM
- StarriderForeignerE minor146BPM
- HurtChristina AguileraE minor145BPM
- We’re Not Gonna Take ItTwisted SisterE minor149BPM
- Darts of PleasureFranz FerdinandE minor145BPM
- Ride Across the RiverDire StraitsE minor145BPM
- A Woman’s WorthAlicia KeysE minor150BPM
- Get in My Car50 CentE minor150BPM
Recordings in E minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 147 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in E minorAll songs at 147 BPME minor at 140–149 BPMCaptain Beefheart & His Magic Band
MusicBrainz collapses 1 recording id into this one. Recording id 48426acb-ac59-445d-ab28-9b8925c9c8f9.