TempoPeek

Massive Attack · Heligoland

Splitting the Atom

Splitting the Atom is in B flat major at 100 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

100 BPM · Andantemedian of 134 analyses · 100–100 across the middle eight tenths
Key
B♭ major2 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
96%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
134people who ran the extractor
One beat
600milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
Dynamics
2.95dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.965Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.602Essentia'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

134 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 96% — put it in B flat major, a key signature of 2 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 134 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 100 BPM one beat lasts 600 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 150 ms and a dotted eighth 450 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 50 BPM, counted twice as fast 200. A score would mark that Andante, 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 2.95 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 0.965 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 B flat 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 B♭ major

Each of these differs from B♭ 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 100 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note424000.42
Half note212000.83
Dotted quarter1.59001.11
Quarter note (one beat)16001.67
Quarter triplet0.6674002.5
Dotted eighth0.754502.22
Eighth note0.53003.33
Eighth triplet0.3332005
Dotted sixteenth0.3752254.44
Sixteenth note0.251506.67
Sixteenth triplet0.16710010
Thirty-second note0.1257513.33

Half time 50 BPM · double time 200 BPM. Every row is one beat (600 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. The Game Has ChangedDaft PunkB♭ major100BPM
  2. Root DownBeastie BoysB♭ major100BPM
  3. What It IsBlack Eyed PeasB♭ major100BPM
  4. Cure for the ItchLinkin ParkB♭ major100BPM
  5. Doo Wop (That Thing)Lauryn HillB♭ major100BPM
  6. Lust for LifeLana Del Rey ft. The WeekndB♭ major100BPM
  7. SorryJustin BieberB♭ major100BPM
  8. Love by Another NameCéline DionB♭ major100BPM
  9. Just My ImaginationThe CranberriesB♭ major101BPM
  10. Documenta XScannerB♭ major99BPM

Recordings in B flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 100 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in B flat majorAll songs at 100 BPMB♭ major at 100–109 BPMMassive Attack

MusicBrainz collapses 3 recording ids into this one. Recording id fb2156ba-a964-4d6c-95e5-dab1f8c79c42.