Dire Straits · Communiqué
Lady Writer
Lady Writer is in A major at 148.1 beats per minute.
Tempo
148 BPM · Allegromedian of 203 analyses · 147.6–148.5 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- A major3 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 52%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 203people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 405.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 438.2Hz · -7 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 3.75dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.939Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.502Essentia'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
203 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. A bare majority of them — 52% — put it in A major, a key signature of 3 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 203 readings; 92% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 148.1 BPM one beat lasts 405.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 101.3 ms and a dotted eighth 303.8 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 74.1 BPM, counted twice as fast 296.2. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 438.2 Hz, which is 7 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 3.75 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 0.939 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 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 A major
Each of these differs from A 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 148 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1620.5 | 0.62 |
| Half note | 2 | 810.3 | 1.23 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 607.7 | 1.65 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 405.1 | 2.47 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 270.1 | 3.7 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 303.8 | 3.29 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 202.6 | 4.94 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 135 | 7.41 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 151.9 | 6.58 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 101.3 | 9.87 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 67.5 | 14.81 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 50.6 | 19.75 |
Half time 74.1 BPM · double time 296.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (405.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Three Little BirdsBob Marley & The WailersA major148BPM
- To Build a HomeThe Cinematic OrchestraA major148BPM
- ButterflyCorinne Bailey RaeA major148BPM
- Already GoneKelly ClarksonA major148BPM
- God Save the QueenSex PistolsA major148BPM
- So Much IRed Hot Chili PeppersA major149BPM
- GuiltyBonnie RaittA major147BPM
- De Do Do Do, De Da Da DaThe PoliceA major147BPM
- I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes)The 1975A major149BPM
- Do What You LikeBlind FaithA major149BPM
Recordings in A major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 148 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in A majorAll songs at 148 BPMA major at 140–149 BPMDire Straits
MusicBrainz collapses 26 recording ids into this one. Recording id ccf02ff3-1f6a-46fd-8fb9-b651139a320f.