TempoPeek

The Specials feat. Rico · Specials

A Message to You Rudy

A Message to You Rudy is in C major at 102.4 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

102 BPM · Andantemedian of 150 analyses · 102.1–103.1 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
98%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
150people who ran the extractor
One beat
585.9milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
438.5Hz · -6 cents from A 440
Dynamics
5.04dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.654Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.272Essentia'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

150 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 98% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 150 readings; 99% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 102.4 BPM one beat lasts 585.9 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 146.5 ms and a dotted eighth 439.5 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 51.2 BPM, counted twice as fast 204.8. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 438.5 Hz, which is 6 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 5.04 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 0.654 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 C 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 C major

Each of these differs from C 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 102 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42343.80.43
Half note21171.90.85
Dotted quarter1.5878.91.14
Quarter note (one beat)1585.91.71
Quarter triplet0.667390.62.56
Dotted eighth0.75439.52.28
Eighth note0.52933.41
Eighth triplet0.333195.35.12
Dotted sixteenth0.375219.74.55
Sixteenth note0.25146.56.83
Sixteenth triplet0.16797.710.24
Thirty-second note0.12573.213.65

Half time 51.2 BPM · double time 204.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (585.9 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. I Hung My HeadJohnny CashC major103BPM
  2. Like a Rolling StoneThe Rolling StonesC major102BPM
  3. Storm in a TeacupRed Hot Chili PeppersC major102BPM
  4. Dance Hall DaysWang ChungC major103BPM
  5. Angel Of HarlemU2C major103BPM
  6. HallelujahJeff BuckleyC major103BPM
  7. Don’t Get Me WrongPretendersC major102BPM
  8. Rhythm DivineEnrique IglesiasC major102BPM
  9. 19–2000 (Soulchild remix)GorillazC major102BPM
  10. Semi‐Charmed LifeThird Eye BlindC major102BPM

Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 102 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in C majorAll songs at 102 BPMC major at 100–109 BPM

MusicBrainz collapses 1 recording id into this one. Recording id 5bf665ee-79ff-4be8-b2d6-db608e379113.