The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast PEL Presents NEM#251: Dr. Alan Williams (Birdsong at Morning)
Apr 25, 2026
Alan Williams, musician, recording engineer, and ethnomusicologist who led Knots and Crosses and Birdsong at Morning, talks songwriting, tunings, and production. He recounts shifting from band work to academic studio life. He describes open E minor and Hawaiian-influenced tunings, odd meters, layering and doubling techniques, synth choices, and arranging decisions across his recent albums.
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Use Singles To Build Toward An Album
- Treat singles as test-pieces but plan an album shape if you think in albums; group diverse songs intentionally to create a cohesive record.
- Alan released singles like Just Like Water, then wrote to fill out Floating on the Dreamline into an album.
Tuning Sparked Song Theme
- Alternate guitar tunings can flip expected moods: an E minor open tuning produced major-sounding riffs that informed both harmony and lyric theme.
- The major/minor juxtaposition in Just Like Water shaped its lyric about transition and ungroundedness.
Demo Parts Became Final Textures
- Alan often keeps demo parts in final mixes out of laziness and time pressure, doubling acoustics and hard-panning two takes for thickness.
- Just Like Water began as a pickup direct-to-board acoustic demo that became the released acoustic texture.