A Cumberbatch Canon

As a promotion for the upcoming radio dramatization of Neil Gaiman’s work “Neverwhere,” BBC Radio 4 released a clip today of “Sherlock” star Benedict Cumberbatch, in his character as the angel Islington, singing a haunting dirge. Listen to it here:

The Radio Times suggested readers apply a simple tweak to the song for an even odder effect:

For an extra-eerie effect, open this page in two (or more) windows and start the clip playing for a second time, say 15/20 seconds after the first one has started (the more windows you open, the weirder it gets…)

Indeed, it works great. But it was tricky to get the timing just right. So I put the sound clip into Garageband and arranged it into a semi-precise canon that to me sounds fantastic. Give it a listen:

A note on rights: I believe that this remix constitutes fair use of the original BBC recording. It is my interest in posting it to promote the “Neverwhere” radio adaptation, which I greatly anticipate. If the BBC believes I am in error on this point, I will be happy to remove it from the Internet.

The “Neverwhere” production kicks off on March 16 on BBC Radio 4.