TempoPeek

David Bowie · Diamond Dogs

Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family

Chant of the Ever Circling Skeletal Family is in A minor at 138.9 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

139 BPM · Allegromedian of 148 analyses · 138.9–139.4 across the middle eight tenths
Key
A minorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
96%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
148people who ran the extractor
One beat
432milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
Dynamics
7.23dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.804Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.402Essentia'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. All but a handful of them — 96% — put it in A minor, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 148 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 138.9 BPM one beat lasts 432 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 108 ms and a dotted eighth 324 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 69.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 277.8. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.2 Hz, which is 23 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 7.23 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 0.804 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 note41727.90.58
Half note2863.91.16
Dotted quarter1.5647.91.54
Quarter note (one beat)14322.32
Quarter triplet0.6672883.47
Dotted eighth0.753243.09
Eighth note0.52164.63
Eighth triplet0.3331446.95
Dotted sixteenth0.3751626.17
Sixteenth note0.251089.26
Sixteenth triplet0.1677213.89
Thirty-second note0.1255418.52

Half time 69.5 BPM · double time 277.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (432 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. The LetterThe Box TopsA minor139BPM
  2. Deserted Cities of the HeartCreamA minor139BPM
  3. A Rush of Blood to the HeadColdplayA minor138BPM
  4. Presence of the LordEric ClaptonA minor139BPM
  5. One More Cup of CoffeeBob DylanA minor139BPM
  6. See YouDepeche ModeA minor140BPM
  7. Up the KhyberPink FloydA minor140BPM
  8. Big Pimpin’JAY‐Z featuring UGKA minor138BPM
  9. Superheroes / Human After All / Rock’n RollDaft PunkA minor138BPM
  10. The PhoenixFall Out BoyA minor138BPM

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 BPMDavid Bowie

MusicBrainz collapses 4 recording ids into this one. Recording id 57842def-1fbb-481e-9325-2ae46ba50d71.