September 2022
Sometimes you cross paths with a person whom you immediately recognize as someone you can count on. A person who has the aptitude and values which make working with them a joyful experience. They know what you need before you ask and they gently point you in the right direction when you make mistakes or miss something.
About ten years ago I came across such a person. I met Duncan Ferguson while he was working for a local AVL company supplying lighting and sound for a large event I mixed every year between Christmas and New Year. After the first event, working with Duncan, I knew there was no way I wanted to do this event again without him. Our connection to that event continued for many years until COVID brought it to an unintended halt.
Duncan always impressed me with his knowledge, talent, and most of all, work ethic. He is the type of person you want around when things go wrong and need to be made right. A guy who helps keep your worry level low.
Duncan grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan where rough winters teach a person to be resilient and prepared. He found his love for audio engineering when his high school band recorded an album at a local recording studio. This led to seeking out colleges where he could further his education in the recording arts. His education culminated at McGill University in Quebec while attending their prestigious and rigorous Sound Recording Masters Degree program studying with the likes of George Massenburg. His years in higher education also offered opportunities for internships at two Nashville recording studios, East Iris in Berryhill and Bayou Recording on Music Row. Summers were spent touring doing live sound for a local sound company in Grand Rapids, MI.
His opportunity to move to Nashville came shortly after graduating from McGill when he got the call to work full-time with a band he had worked with during his summers in Grand Rapids. Ultimately, that gig led to a seven-year career working for CTS AVL touring with many high-level national and international acts. While the job at CTS was focused on live sound and touring, Duncan never lost his passion for recording and mastering. His specific interest in the art of mastering led him to build a mastering suite in East Nashville as a side hustle, aptly named The Voltage Exchange.
As his business grew, it became apparent that he needed to start adding gear to help him accomplish the level of sonic quality he desired to give his clients. Some of that gear needed to be custom-built. He approached Teegarden Audio to design and build a mastering-level BAX-styled EQ. We were thrilled to tackle this project for Duncan. He remarks, “My custom Teegarden Audio BAX EQ is the final icing on the cake of my mastering chain. It’s like turning a light on in a dark room. It adds a more tight transparent air that I cannot get with any other piece I have. I use it on the majority of the projects I master. My hope is that the energy and effort put forth on this build will become a future product for Teegarden Audio”
I am so proud of Duncan and his accomplishments as an audio professional. It was a pleasure to work with him in the past on live sound events and more recently watch him grow his business in his quest for excellence. Teegarden Audio was excited to be a small part of his success. In a few short years, The Voltage Exchange is now his full-time work. He recently invested in a rare restored MCI tape machine from Mara Machines in order to transfer/archive analog tape recordings. Striving to turn The Voltage Exchange into a full-service mastering and archival restoration facility, he will soon take delivery of a new disc cutting lathe made by James Sillitoe of Sillitoe Technologies in Perth, Australia. This will be one of the first new cutting lathes going into production since the days of Neumann lathes in the early 1980s. I look forward to great things from The Voltage Exchange.
Check out Duncan’s credits below and visit his website - The Voltage Exchange
Feel free to contact him via email for any questions about mastering and The Voltage Exchange at thevoltageexchange@gmail.com.
Live Sound Credits:
Bonnaroo Festival
Forcastle Festival
Amy Grant and Vince Gill
Dave Ramsey
Deva Premal
Women of Faith Tour
Belong Tour
David Phelps Concerts
Keith and Kristen Getty
Building 429
Sidewalk Phrophets
Album Credits:
David Phelps - Game Changer (2021)
Natalie Price - Through the Fog (2018)
Raniee Blake - Varies Singles (2018)
Wild Hearts Club - Arcade Back In Manitou (2021)
Mutual Groove - Various Singles (2019 - 2022)
Kyle Frederick - Mr. Mercurial - (2022)
Al Bee - One From The Other (2022)
Barney Bental - Cosmic Dreamer (2022)
Landry Lowerimore - Brinning At The Door (2022)
Julia Gomez - Various Singles (2021 - 2022)
Kelsey Abbott - Various Singles (2019 - 2022)
The Village Chapel Worship - Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus (2021)
The Village Chapel Worship - Song of Hope and Faithfulnes (2021)
India Carney - Holidays Vol. II - (2021)
N-Gram - Fine Arts & Fire Ants (2021)
Ella Mine - Dream War - (2020)
Rashad Sylvester - Let It Play - (2020)
Logan Daniel Garza - Sincerely - (2020)
Austin Sisk - Death Is Just The Beginning - (2020)
Mary Richard - Deja Vu - (2020)
Julie Lee & Dan Wheeler - While Your Waiting EP - (2020)
Lindsey Diaz - When the Leaves Turn - (2018)
Full List: https://www.masteringcredits.com/profile/Duncan%20Ferguson
Spotify Selected Works:
The Voltage Exchange Mastering (Selected Works)