Nirvana · In Utero
Serve the Servants
Serve the Servants is in E flat major at 120.1 beats per minute.
Tempo
120 BPM · Allegromedian of 152 analyses · 119.9–120.3 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- E♭ major3 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 82%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 152people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 499.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 439Hz · -4 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 2.15dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.972Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.266Essentia'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
152 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 82% — put it in E flat major, a key signature of 3 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 152 readings; 93% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 120.1 BPM one beat lasts 499.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 124.9 ms and a dotted eighth 374.7 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 60.1 BPM, counted twice as fast 240.2. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 439 Hz, which is 4 cents below concert A at 440 Hz — close enough to standard that a tuner would not argue. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.
The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 2.15 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 0.972 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 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 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 120 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 1998.3 | 0.5 |
| Half note | 2 | 999.2 | 1 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 749.4 | 1.33 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 499.6 | 2 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 333.1 | 3 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 374.7 | 2.67 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 249.8 | 4 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 166.5 | 6.01 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 187.3 | 5.34 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 124.9 | 8.01 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 83.3 | 12.01 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 62.4 | 16.01 |
Half time 60.1 BPM · double time 240.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (499.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Invisible SunThe PoliceE♭ major120BPM
- Girls & BoysBlurE♭ major120BPM
- Twenty OneThe CranberriesE♭ major120BPM
- Strangers Like MePhil CollinsE♭ major120BPM
- TalkColdplayE♭ major120BPM
- Every Time We Say GoodbyeJohn ColtraneE♭ major120BPM
- PerthBon IverE♭ major120BPM
- I’m Every WomanWhitney HoustonE♭ major120BPM
- Better Be Good to MeTina TurnerE♭ major121BPM
- I Cannot Believe It’s TruePhil CollinsE♭ major121BPM
Recordings in E flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 120 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in E flat majorAll songs at 120 BPME♭ major at 120–129 BPMNirvana
MusicBrainz collapses 158 recording ids into this one. Recording id 52eadc0f-037a-4747-b234-e5412aff8215.