Duncan was born in Turriff, Aberdeenshire on 14 May 1964. His parents were tenant farmer and bothy ballad singer Jock Duncan and Frances Duncan. Jock Duncan joined the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board shortly after Duncan's birth and the family moved to Thurso then to Pitlochry. Initially taught by his father, Gordon began his piping career at the age of 10, winning many junior competitions under the tuition of Walter Drysdale, but started to lose interest in competition piping by the age of 18, at which point he was an apprentice joiner.
