Red Hot Chili Peppers · By the Way
Universally Speaking
Universally Speaking is in D major at 116.5 beats per minute.
Tempo
117 BPM · Moderatomedian of 168 analyses · 116.4–117 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 94%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 168people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 515milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 2.3dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.948Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.134Essentia'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
168 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 94% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 168 readings; 95% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 116.5 BPM one beat lasts 515 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 128.8 ms and a dotted eighth 386.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 58.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 233. 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 2.3 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 0.948 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 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 D major
Each of these differs from D 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 117 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2060.1 | 0.49 |
| Half note | 2 | 1030 | 0.97 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 772.5 | 1.29 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 515 | 1.94 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 343.3 | 2.91 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 386.3 | 2.59 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 257.5 | 3.88 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 171.7 | 5.82 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 193.1 | 5.18 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 128.8 | 7.77 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 85.8 | 11.65 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 64.4 | 15.53 |
Half time 58.3 BPM · double time 233 BPM. Every row is one beat (515 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Monkey Gone to HeavenPixiesD major117BPM
- CrossroadsEric ClaptonD major116BPM
- Who Will You Run ToHeartD major116BPM
- Mother Popcorn, Part 1James BrownD major117BPM
- ❦ (Guitar)alt‐JD major117BPM
- Listen Like ThievesINXSD major116BPM
- Robot Rock / Oh YeahDaft PunkD major116BPM
- HolidayMadonnaD major116BPM
- Strobe LightThe B‐52sD major117BPM
- Title and RegistrationDeath Cab for CutieD major116BPM
Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 117 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in D majorAll songs at 117 BPMD major at 110–119 BPMRed Hot Chili Peppers
MusicBrainz collapses 15 recording ids into this one. Recording id fd2cf658-32c7-40dc-aeae-f5cc0fc9ed7a.