David Bowie · Space Oddity
Space Oddity
Space Oddity is in E major at 136.5 beats per minute.
Tempo
137 BPM · Allegromedian of 631 analyses · 136.4–136.6 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- E major4 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 43%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 631people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 439.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 439.5Hz · -2 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 6.3dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.458Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.071Essentia'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
631 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Fewer than half of them — 43% — put it in E major, a key signature of 4 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 631 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 136.5 BPM one beat lasts 439.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 109.9 ms and a dotted eighth 329.7 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 68.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 273. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 439.5 Hz, which is 2 cents below concert A at 440 Hz — close enough to standard that a tuner would not argue. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.
The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 6.3 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 0.458 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 E 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 E major
Each of these differs from E 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 137 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1758.2 | 0.57 |
| Half note | 2 | 879.1 | 1.14 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 659.3 | 1.52 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 439.6 | 2.28 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 293 | 3.41 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 329.7 | 3.03 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 219.8 | 4.55 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 146.5 | 6.83 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 164.8 | 6.07 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 109.9 | 9.1 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 73.3 | 13.65 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 54.9 | 18.2 |
Half time 68.3 BPM · double time 273 BPM. Every row is one beat (439.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- There Is a Light That Never Goes OutThe SmithsE major136BPM
- Learn to FlyFoo FightersE major136BPM
- Shot of LoveAC/DCE major136BPM
- Vivo per leiAndrea Bocelli feat. GiorgiaE major136BPM
- EchoesPink FloydE major136BPM
- The Spirit of RadioRushE major136BPM
- Scared to Be LonelyMartin Garrix & Dua LipaE major137BPM
- Day TripperThe BeatlesE major138BPM
- Born to RunBruce Springsteen & The E Street BandE major138BPM
- Dirty Deeds Done Dirt CheapAC/DCE major135BPM
Recordings in E major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 137 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in E majorAll songs at 137 BPME major at 130–139 BPMDavid Bowie
MusicBrainz collapses 158 recording ids into this one. Recording id 84649f3b-6da6-4da6-8e33-a7a990b69516.