TempoPeek

Cream · Wheels of Fire

Deserted Cities of the Heart

Deserted Cities of the Heart is in A minor at 138.5 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

139 BPM · Allegromedian of 156 analyses · 128.9–142.3 across the middle eight tenths
Key
A minorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
59%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
156people who ran the extractor
One beat
433.2milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
437Hz · -12 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.47dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.787Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.135Essentia'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

156 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. A bare majority of them — 59% — put it in A minor, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 156 readings; 49% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 128.9 to 142.3 BPM.

At 138.5 BPM one beat lasts 433.2 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 108.3 ms and a dotted eighth 324.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 69.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 277. A score would mark that Allegro, 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 3.47 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 0.787 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 A 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 A minor

Each of these differs from A 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 139 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41732.90.58
Half note2866.41.15
Dotted quarter1.5649.81.54
Quarter note (one beat)1433.22.31
Quarter triplet0.667288.83.46
Dotted eighth0.75324.93.08
Eighth note0.5216.64.62
Eighth triplet0.333144.46.93
Dotted sixteenth0.375162.56.16
Sixteenth note0.25108.39.23
Sixteenth triplet0.16772.213.85
Thirty-second note0.12554.218.47

Half time 69.3 BPM · double time 277 BPM. Every row is one beat (433.2 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. A Rush of Blood to the HeadColdplayA minor138BPM
  2. Big Pimpin’JAY‐Z featuring UGKA minor138BPM
  3. Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal FamilyDavid BowieA minor139BPM
  4. Superheroes / Human After All / Rock’n RollDaft PunkA minor138BPM
  5. The PhoenixFall Out BoyA minor138BPM
  6. The LetterThe Box TopsA minor139BPM
  7. Presence of the LordEric ClaptonA minor139BPM
  8. One More Cup of CoffeeBob DylanA minor139BPM
  9. See YouDepeche ModeA minor140BPM
  10. Still Can’t…The CranberriesA minor137BPM

Recordings in A minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 139 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in A minorAll songs at 139 BPMA minor at 130–139 BPMCream

MusicBrainz collapses 25 recording ids into this one. Recording id a5c8340a-65f0-471b-bb68-fa25a95fe9d8.