TempoPeek

Creedence Clearwater Revival · Willy and the Poor Boys

The Midnight Special

The Midnight Special is in D major at 124.1 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

124 BPM · Allegromedian of 331 analyses · 123.9–124.2 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
99%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
331people who ran the extractor
One beat
483.5milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
436Hz · -16 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.84dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.853Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.097Essentia'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

331 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 99% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 331 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 124.1 BPM one beat lasts 483.5 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 120.9 ms and a dotted eighth 362.6 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 62.1 BPM, counted twice as fast 248.2. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 436 Hz, which is 16 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 4.84 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 0.853 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 124 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41933.90.52
Half note29671.03
Dotted quarter1.5725.21.38
Quarter note (one beat)1483.52.07
Quarter triplet0.667322.33.1
Dotted eighth0.75362.62.76
Eighth note0.5241.74.14
Eighth triplet0.333161.26.21
Dotted sixteenth0.375181.35.52
Sixteenth note0.25120.98.27
Sixteenth triplet0.16780.612.41
Thirty-second note0.12560.416.55

Half time 62.1 BPM · double time 248.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (483.5 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. One More Time / AerodynamicDaft PunkD major124BPM
  2. King of PainThe PoliceD major124BPM
  3. Stiff Upper LipAC/DCD major124BPM
  4. Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)The ByrdsD major124BPM
  5. Booty ManCraig DavidD major124BPM
  6. ContactDaft Punk feat. DJ FalconD major124BPM
  7. Where Do Broken Hearts GoWhitney HoustonD major124BPM
  8. Can’t Take It With YouThe Alan Parsons ProjectD major124BPM
  9. Here Comes Your ManPixiesD major124BPM
  10. Morning Bell/AmnesiacRadioheadD major124BPM

Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 124 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D majorAll songs at 124 BPMD major at 120–129 BPMCreedence Clearwater Revival

MusicBrainz collapses 19 recording ids into this one. Recording id 94f4082b-d578-4cb7-ae8e-f6f500774908.