TempoPeek

Massive Attack · Protection

Protection

Protection is in E major at 166.4 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

166 BPM · Vivacemedian of 189 analyses · 84–166.5 across the middle eight tenths
Key
E major4 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
69%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
189people who ran the extractor
One beat
360.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
445.6Hz · +22 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.72dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.914Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.307Essentia'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

189 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. A bare majority of them — 69% — put it in E major, a key signature of 4 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 189 readings; 63% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 84 to 166.5 BPM.

At 166.4 BPM one beat lasts 360.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 90.1 ms and a dotted eighth 270.4 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 83.2 BPM, counted twice as fast 332.8. A score would mark that Vivace, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 445.6 Hz, which is 22 cents above 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 3.72 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 0.914 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 166 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41442.30.69
Half note2721.21.39
Dotted quarter1.5540.91.85
Quarter note (one beat)1360.62.77
Quarter triplet0.667240.44.16
Dotted eighth0.75270.43.7
Eighth note0.5180.35.55
Eighth triplet0.333120.28.32
Dotted sixteenth0.375135.27.4
Sixteenth note0.2590.111.09
Sixteenth triplet0.16760.116.64
Thirty-second note0.12545.122.19

Half time 83.2 BPM · double time 332.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (360.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Show Me the Meaning of Being LonelyBackstreet BoysE major167BPM
  2. NakedCéline DionE major167BPM
  3. So UnsexyAlanis MorissetteE major165BPM
  4. Yesterday Once MoreCarpentersE major165BPM
  5. That's Just the Woman in MeCéline DionE major165BPM
  6. Safe From HarmMassive AttackE major165BPM
  7. 6060–842The B‐52sE major164BPM
  8. For Whom the Bell TollsBee GeesE major164BPM
  9. All This and Heaven TooFlorence + the MachineE major164BPM
  10. This Is a CallFoo FightersE major164BPM

Recordings in E major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 166 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in E majorAll songs at 166 BPME major at 160–169 BPMMassive Attack

MusicBrainz collapses 12 recording ids into this one. Recording id 9e599661-19a1-4941-958b-5d66e0da5c79.