David Bowie · Hunky Dory

Kooks

Kooks is in D major at 127.9 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

128 BPM · Allegromedian of 298 analyses · 127–128.2 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
96%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
298people who ran the extractor
One beat
469.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
436.5Hz · -14 cents from A 440
Dynamics
6.03dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.693Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.214Essentia'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

298 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 96% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 298 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 127 to 128.2 BPM.

At 127.9 BPM one beat lasts 469.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 117.3 ms and a dotted eighth 351.8 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 64 BPM, counted twice as fast 255.8. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 436.5 Hz, which is 14 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 6.03 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 0.693 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 128 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41876.50.53
Half note2938.21.07
Dotted quarter1.5703.71.42
Quarter note (one beat)1469.12.13
Quarter triplet0.667312.73.2
Dotted eighth0.75351.82.84
Eighth note0.5234.64.26
Eighth triplet0.333156.46.4
Dotted sixteenth0.375175.95.68
Sixteenth note0.25117.38.53
Sixteenth triplet0.16778.212.79
Thirty-second note0.12558.617.05

Half time 64 BPM · double time 255.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (469.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. What I Did for LoveDavid Guetta feat. Emeli SandéD major128BPM
  2. Without YouDavid Guetta feat. UsherD major128BPM
  3. Fade AwayCéline DionD major128BPM
  4. I Rememberdeadmau5 & KaskadeD major128BPM
  5. Wind UpFoo FightersD major128BPM
  6. Who’s That Chick?David Guetta feat. RihannaD major128BPM
  7. CarsGary NumanD major129BPM
  8. Smack3 Doors DownD major129BPM
  9. You Wear It WellRod StewartD major127BPM
  10. MozambiqueBob DylanD major127BPM

Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 128 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D majorAll songs at 128 BPMD major at 120–129 BPMDavid Bowie

MusicBrainz collapses 19 recording ids into this one. Recording id 3917f659-9339-4a72-9fe4-11eb88a65323.