Nirvana · Bleach
Paper Cuts
Paper Cuts is in D minor at 102.8 beats per minute.
Tempo
103 BPM · Andantemedian of 146 analyses · 102.7–103 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- D minor1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 76%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 146people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 583.7milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 1.99dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.936Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.373Essentia'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
146 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 76% — put it in D minor, a key signature of 1 flat. The tempo printed above is the median of the 146 readings; 97% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 102.8 BPM one beat lasts 583.7 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 145.9 ms and a dotted eighth 437.7 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 51.4 BPM, counted twice as fast 205.6. 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 1.99 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 0.936 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 D 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 D minor
Each of these differs from D 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 103 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2334.6 | 0.43 |
| Half note | 2 | 1167.3 | 0.86 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 875.5 | 1.14 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 583.7 | 1.71 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 389.1 | 2.57 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 437.7 | 2.28 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 291.8 | 3.43 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 194.6 | 5.14 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 218.9 | 4.57 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 145.9 | 6.85 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 97.3 | 10.28 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 73 | 13.71 |
Half time 51.4 BPM · double time 205.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (583.7 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- I Might Be WrongRadioheadD minor103BPM
- Who Is ItMichael JacksonD minor103BPM
- The ClairvoyantIron MaidenD minor103BPM
- Insane in the BrainCypress HillD minor102BPM
- (I Can’t Get No) SatisfactionDEVOD minor102BPM
- You Know I’m No GoodAmy WinehouseD minor104BPM
- It’s Too LateCarole KingD minor104BPM
- Another Brick in the Wall, Part 2Pink FloydD minor104BPM
- The Happiest Days of Our LivesPink FloydD minor104BPM
- Orange Juice Blues (Blues for Breakfast)Bob Dylan & The BandD minor102BPM
Recordings in D minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 103 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in D minorAll songs at 103 BPMD minor at 100–109 BPMNirvana
MusicBrainz collapses 41 recording ids into this one. Recording id 67930d52-5e75-4c00-b36f-ee3c43bed160.