Coldplay · X&Y
Speed of Sound
Speed of Sound is in D major at 123 beats per minute.
Tempo
123 BPM · Allegromedian of 223 analyses · 123–123.1 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 95%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 223people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 487.8milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 440.3Hz · +1 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 2.86dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.929Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.124Essentia'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
223 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 95% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 223 readings; 99% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 123 BPM one beat lasts 487.8 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 122 ms and a dotted eighth 365.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 61.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 246. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 440.3 Hz, which is 1 cents above 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 2.86 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 0.929 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 D 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 D major
Each of these differs from D 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 123 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1951.2 | 0.51 |
| Half note | 2 | 975.6 | 1.02 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 731.7 | 1.37 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 487.8 | 2.05 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 325.2 | 3.08 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 365.9 | 2.73 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 243.9 | 4.1 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 162.6 | 6.15 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 182.9 | 5.47 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 122 | 8.2 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 81.3 | 12.3 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 61 | 16.4 |
Half time 61.5 BPM · double time 246 BPM. Every row is one beat (487.8 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Have a Drink on MeAC/DCD major123BPM
- Rescue MeFontella BassD major123BPM
- FriendsDidoD major123BPM
- I’ve Got The World On A StringFrank SinatraD major123BPM
- AerodynamicDaft PunkD major123BPM
- Aerodynamic (Daft Punk remix)Daft PunkD major123BPM
- Mighty Good LeaderAudio AdrenalineD major123BPM
- Let It RainEric ClaptonD major123BPM
- Get BackThe BeatlesD major123BPM
- Don’t Look BackBostonD major123BPM
Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 123 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in D majorAll songs at 123 BPMD major at 120–129 BPMColdplay
MusicBrainz collapses 29 recording ids into this one. Recording id 8d305607-7665-4ba7-bb30-06bb35fad519.