TempoPeek

The Beatles · The Beatles

Back in the U.S.S.R.

Back in the U.S.S.R. is in D major at 142.5 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

143 BPM · Allegromedian of 339 analyses · 142.4–142.6 across the middle eight tenths
Key
D major2 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
91%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
339people who ran the extractor
One beat
421.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.5Hz · +6 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.08dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.931Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.101Essentia'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

339 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 91% — put it in D major, a key signature of 2 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 339 readings; 95% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 142.5 BPM one beat lasts 421.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 105.3 ms and a dotted eighth 315.8 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 71.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 285. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.5 Hz, which is 6 cents above 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 3.08 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 0.931 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 143 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41684.20.59
Half note2842.11.19
Dotted quarter1.5631.61.58
Quarter note (one beat)1421.12.38
Quarter triplet0.667280.73.56
Dotted eighth0.75315.83.17
Eighth note0.5210.54.75
Eighth triplet0.333140.47.13
Dotted sixteenth0.375157.96.33
Sixteenth note0.25105.39.5
Sixteenth triplet0.16770.214.25
Thirty-second note0.12552.619

Half time 71.3 BPM · double time 285 BPM. Every row is one beat (421.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. In Between DaysThe CureD major143BPM
  2. I’ll Make Love to YouBoyz II MenD major143BPM
  3. Sweet Baby JamesJames TaylorD major142BPM
  4. Ain’t No Fun (Waiting Round to Be a Millionaire)AC/DCD major142BPM
  5. Ozone BabyLed ZeppelinD major142BPM
  6. If Walls Could TalkCéline DionD major142BPM
  7. Embryonic JourneyJefferson AirplaneD major143BPM
  8. Alone, TogetherThe StrokesD major143BPM
  9. Roll On Down the HighwayBachman–Turner OverdriveD major142BPM
  10. Pretty Fly (for a White Guy)The OffspringD major143BPM

Recordings in D major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 143 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in D majorAll songs at 143 BPMD major at 140–149 BPMThe Beatles

MusicBrainz collapses 70 recording ids into this one. Recording id 3566e453-8f10-4a45-ac85-2c72eb183ca1.