TempoPeek

Nine Inch Nails · The Downward Spiral

Heresy

Heresy is in B flat minor at 115 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

115 BPM · Moderatomedian of 176 analyses · 114.9–115 across the middle eight tenths
Key
B♭ minor5 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
93%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
176people who ran the extractor
One beat
521.7milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
Dynamics
2.56dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.907Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.253Essentia'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

176 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 93% — put it in B flat minor, a key signature of 5 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 176 readings; 96% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 115 BPM one beat lasts 521.7 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 130.4 ms and a dotted eighth 391.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 57.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 230. A score would mark that Moderato, 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 2.56 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 0.907 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 minor; 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♭ minor

Each of these differs from B♭ minor 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 115 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note420870.48
Half note21043.50.96
Dotted quarter1.5782.61.28
Quarter note (one beat)1521.71.92
Quarter triplet0.667347.82.88
Dotted eighth0.75391.32.56
Eighth note0.5260.93.83
Eighth triplet0.333173.95.75
Dotted sixteenth0.375195.75.11
Sixteenth note0.25130.47.67
Sixteenth triplet0.1678711.5
Thirty-second note0.12565.215.33

Half time 57.5 BPM · double time 230 BPM. Every row is one beat (521.7 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Let’s DanceDavid BowieB♭ minor115BPM
  2. Not That KindAnastaciaB♭ minor115BPM
  3. The Way I AreTimbaland feat. Keri Hilson & D.O.E.B♭ minor115BPM
  4. PromiscuousNelly Furtado featuring TimbalandB♭ minor114BPM
  5. BadMichael JacksonB♭ minor114BPM
  6. Heavy Metal LoverLady GagaB♭ minor116BPM
  7. VogueMadonnaB♭ minor116BPM
  8. Over and OverMadonnaB♭ minor116BPM
  9. MusiqueDaft PunkB♭ minor117BPM
  10. Axel FHarold FaltermeyerB♭ minor117BPM

Recordings in B flat minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 115 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in B flat minorAll songs at 115 BPMB♭ minor at 110–119 BPMNine Inch Nails

MusicBrainz collapses 23 recording ids into this one. Recording id 3c6e9da3-e16f-47e3-a5b8-bc16c04184e3.