Katie Melua · Piece by Piece
Nine Million Bicycles
Nine Million Bicycles is in C major at 164.1 beats per minute.
Tempo
164 BPM · Vivacemedian of 149 analyses · 164–164.1 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 95%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 149people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 365.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 4.14dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.504Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.022Essentia'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
149 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 95% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 149 readings; 95% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 164.1 BPM one beat lasts 365.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 91.4 ms and a dotted eighth 274.2 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 82.1 BPM, counted twice as fast 328.2. A score would mark that Vivace, 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 4.14 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 0.504 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 C 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 C major
Each of these differs from C 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 164 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1462.5 | 0.68 |
| Half note | 2 | 731.3 | 1.37 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 548.4 | 1.82 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 365.6 | 2.74 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 243.8 | 4.1 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 274.2 | 3.65 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 182.8 | 5.47 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 121.9 | 8.21 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 137.1 | 7.29 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 91.4 | 10.94 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 60.9 | 16.41 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 45.7 | 21.88 |
Half time 82.1 BPM · double time 328.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (365.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Bad Side of the MoonElton JohnC major164BPM
- Lucy in the Sky With DiamondsElton JohnC major164BPM
- Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly DazedDavid BowieC major164BPM
- Don’t Look Back in AngerOasisC major164BPM
- Up&UpColdplayC major164BPM
- Caro gesu bambinoAndrea BocelliC major164BPM
- The PusherSteppenwolfC major164BPM
- Billy Boy$NOTC major164BPM
- Let My Love Open the DoorPete TownshendC major165BPM
- Stairway to HeavenLed ZeppelinC major165BPM
Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 164 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in C majorAll songs at 164 BPMC major at 160–169 BPM
MusicBrainz collapses 14 recording ids into this one. Recording id 711acab0-f2de-4076-baf6-d841bf6c0433.