Tool · Lateralus

Parabola

Parabola is in E minor at 100.9 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

101 BPM · Andantemedian of 156 analyses · 100.7–101.1 across the middle eight tenths
Key
E minor1 sharp · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
90%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
156people who ran the extractor
One beat
594.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.8Hz · +7 cents from A 440
Dynamics
3.76dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.861Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.188Essentia'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

156 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 90% — put it in E minor, a key signature of 1 sharp. The tempo printed above is the median of the 156 readings; 94% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 100.9 BPM one beat lasts 594.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 148.7 ms and a dotted eighth 446 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 50.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 201.8. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.8 Hz, which is 7 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 3.76 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 0.861 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 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 E minor

Each of these differs from E 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 101 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42378.60.42
Half note21189.30.84
Dotted quarter1.58921.12
Quarter note (one beat)1594.61.68
Quarter triplet0.667396.42.52
Dotted eighth0.754462.24
Eighth note0.5297.33.36
Eighth triplet0.333198.25.05
Dotted sixteenth0.3752234.48
Sixteenth note0.25148.76.73
Sixteenth triplet0.16799.110.09
Thirty-second note0.12574.313.45

Half time 50.5 BPM · double time 201.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (594.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. FeelsCalvin Harris feat. Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry & Big SeanE minor101BPM
  2. The Razors EdgeAC/DCE minor101BPM
  3. Road Trippin’Red Hot Chili PeppersE minor101BPM
  4. Mother’s Little HelperThe Rolling StonesE minor101BPM
  5. Fell on Black DaysSoundgardenE minor101BPM
  6. Mean Mr. MustardThe BeatlesE minor100BPM
  7. Keep TalkingPink FloydE minor100BPM
  8. Take Me to the RiverTalking HeadsE minor100BPM
  9. Drumming SongFlorence + the MachineE minor100BPM
  10. TourniquetEvanescenceE minor102BPM

Recordings in E minor, ordered by how near their tempo is to 101 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in E minorAll songs at 101 BPME minor at 100–109 BPMTool

MusicBrainz collapses 42 recording ids into this one. Recording id 016d9643-722e-4283-85ed-2844038dc537.