Syrinx -

Syrinx was a Canadian electronic/psych band from Toronto that released the 1970/71 True North albums Syrinx and Long Lost Relatives. They featured ex-Intersystems/Kensington Market keyboardist John Mills-Cockell, who issued multiple solo titles and soundtracks.

Members: John Mills-Cockell (piano, organ), Doug Pringle (saxophone), Malcolm Tomlinson (drums, vocals), Allan Wells (percussion)

Background

Syrinx formed in Toronto in 1970 when composer-keyboardist John Mills-Cockell built an electronic/psych trio with saxophonist Doug Pringle and percussionist Alan Wells. Mills-Cockell was born on May 19, 1943, in Toronto, Ontario, and sang in a church choir as a child. A BBC Proms presentation of Hugh Le Caine’s Dripsody directed his attention toward electronic tape music during his teenage years. He studied at the University of Toronto and the Royal Conservatory of Music, where his work shifted from music education into piano, composition, tape, and live electronics under John Coveart, Samuel Dolin, and Gustav Ciamaga.

In 1967, Mills-Cockell joined light sculptor Michael Hayden, poet Blake Parker, and architect Dik Zander in Intersystems, a Toronto mixed-media collective that mounted immersive presentations and cut the 1967/68 albums Number One Intersystems, Peachy, and Free Psychedelic Poster Inside. During the Intersystems period, he bought an early Moog modular synthesizer for use in live performances.

Pringle came from Toronto free-improvisation activity with the Kinetic Improvisation Ensemble and appeared at Perception ’67, the University of Toronto festival that fed several Intersystems contacts. Wells met Mills-Cockell through the open electronics course that Mills-Cockell helped run in Samuel Dolin’s basement studio.

Mills-Cockell entered the rock studio circuit through Kensington Market after he added Moog to the group’s 1969 album Aardvark. Cream soundman Felix Pappalardi produced the album and signed Mills-Cockell to his management firm, arranging West Coast studio time. Mills-Cockell recorded in Vancouver with Wells on congas, then returned to Toronto for an improvised engagement at Meat and Potatoes on the University of Toronto campus. Pringle joined the engagement, and the partnership continued through several months of early-evening sets.

The musicians used Pringle’s Toronto loft as a workspace among dancers, filmmakers, actors, painters, and writers. Pringle added saxophone to the earlier Mills-Cockell–Wells tapes after Wells returned from the West Coast. Kensington Market manager Bernie Finkelstein, then building True North Records, signed Syrinx for the trio’s self-titled 1970 debut.

Syrinx

Syrinx released their self-titled debut album in 1970 on True North.

The album contains seven John Mills-Cockell pieces performed by a compact electronic-acoustic trio. Mills-Cockell plays Moog synthesizer, piano, and organ beside electric saxophonist Doug Pringle and hand-drum/gong percussionist Alan Wells. The extended titles “Chant for Your Dragon King” and “Appalosa–Pegasus” place sustained keyboard tones against reed phrases and ritual percussion attacks.

“Melina’s Torch” opens through soft electronic waves and a wistful keyboard line. “Journey Tree” drifts through restrained tones and a gentle reed lead. “Chant for Your Dragon King” advances as a slow processional, with a ceremonial line over sustained tones. “Hollywood Dream Trip” lingers on a spare, melancholic theme. “Appaloosa–Pegasus” quickens through buzzing sine waves and a galloping hand-percussion figure.

A1. “Melina’s Torch” (2:59)
A2. “Journey Tree” (4:48)
A3. “Chant for Your Dragon King” (10:22)
A4. “Field Hymn” (1:46)

B1. “Hollywood Dream Trip” (5:15)
B2. “Father of Light” (2:14)
B3. “Appalosa–Pegasus” (11:34)

Syrinx recorded the album at Baroka Studios in Vancouver and Bay Recording in Toronto with engineers Rollin Newton and Frank Bertin. George Semkiw mixed the album at RCA Studios in Toronto.

Gerald Zeldin painted the front cover. Bart Schoales handled photography and art direction.

Syrinx reached No. 59 in Canada.

Long Lost Relatives

Syrinx released their second album, Long Lost Relatives, in 1971 on True North.

Long Lost Relatives retains Mills-Cockell, Pringle, and Wells, then adds strings and orchestral percussion to the four-part “Stringspace” material. The eight-title program places the CTV theme “Tillicum” beside “Syren,” “December Angel,” “Ibistix,” and “Field Hymn (Epilogue).” String players John Dembeck, Berul Sugarman, Stanley Solomon, Ronald Lurie, and Sam Davis appear under Milton Barnes’s string-section direction; Vair Capper adds orchestral percussion.

“Tumblers to the Vault” darts through bright modular figures, quick hand percussion, and a reedy top line. “Syren” roughens the reed line with signal processing and places it against dark string figures. “December Angel” starts with scrapes, clangs, and high synthetic cries, then drops to deep keys before plucked strings, bells, and gongs rise underneath. “Tillicum” races through bubbling circuitry and a compact horn call. “Aurora Spinray” closes with sustained organ chords and suspended harmony.

A1. “Tumblers to the Vault” (3:33)
A2. “Syren” (6:08)
A3. “December Angel” (8:56)

B1. “Ibistix” (8:06)
B2. “Field Hymn (Epilogue)” (2:54)
B3. “Tillicum” (1:51)
B4. “Better Deaf and Dumb from the First” (2:54)
B5. “Aurora Spinray” (3:30)

Syrinx recorded Long Lost Relatives at Eastern Sound Studios, Thunder Sound Studios, Pathé-Humphries Studios, and Bay Recording in Toronto with engineers Dave Kalunbach, Don Stewart, and Bill Roncken. Mills-Cockell and Eugene Martynec produced the album for Windfall Music Enterprises. Bob D’Orleans mastered the album at Audio Spectrum in New York City.

Long Lost Relatives appeared in a Bart Schoales sleeve with Schoales artwork and photography. Peter Goddard wrote the liner notes.

CTV used “Tillicum” as the theme for Here Come The Seventies, the Hobel–Leiterman half-hour documentary series that aired from 1970 to 1973 after their CTV specials The Fabulous Sixties. Peter Jennings narrated the earlier series. CBC also aired “Stringspace,” performed by Syrinx with the Toronto Repertory Ensemble, on Music to See in 1971.

True North lifted “Tillicum” as a 1971 single (b/w “Melina’s Torch”), which reached No. 38 on the Canadian singles chart. Long Lost Relatives reached No. 51 in Canada.

Discography: