David Bowie · Aladdin Sane

Panic in Detroit

Panic in Detroit is in D major at 92.6 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

93 BPM · Andantemedian of 295 analyses · 92.6–93 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
98%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
295people who ran the extractor
One beat
647.9milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
436.5Hz · -14 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.07dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.896Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.122Essentia'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

295 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 98% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 295 readings; 99% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 92.6 BPM one beat lasts 647.9 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 162 ms and a dotted eighth 486 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 46.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 185.2. A score would mark that Andante, 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 4.07 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 0.896 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 93 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42591.80.39
Half note21295.90.77
Dotted quarter1.5971.91.03
Quarter note (one beat)1647.91.54
Quarter triplet0.6674322.32
Dotted eighth0.754862.06
Eighth note0.53243.09
Eighth triplet0.3332164.63
Dotted sixteenth0.3752434.12
Sixteenth note0.251626.17
Sixteenth triplet0.1671089.26
Thirty-second note0.1258112.35

Half time 46.3 BPM · double time 185.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (647.9 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. BadfishSublimeD major93BPM
  2. Rock and Roll Is DeadLenny KravitzD major93BPM
  3. Roll Over BeethovenChuck BerryD major93BPM
  4. Blood and ThunderMastodonD major93BPM
  5. Human NatureMichael JacksonD major93BPM
  6. Hold Your Head UpUriah HeepD major93BPM
  7. Fly Away5 Seconds of SummerD major93BPM
  8. Mull of KintyreWingsD major92BPM
  9. EmotionBee GeesD major92BPM
  10. Back to Your HeartBackstreet BoysD major92BPM

Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 93 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D majorAll songs at 93 BPMD major at 90–99 BPMDavid Bowie

MusicBrainz collapses 57 recording ids into this one. Recording id 18577193-69c9-4d20-a161-3095425c8f49.