The way I learnt to tune drones was to tune the tenor to open A on the Chanter,tune the baritone to the tenor and then the bass to the tenor. When I do this it sounds fine and in tune…however when I shut off the tenor drone th other two are not in tune with each other. Is this ok?
I think this has been discussed here a couple times, but you should search and check. Be sure and check the tenor against both A and G. Also be sure you are fingering the A and G correctly as it is going to sound different if you play them open.
One method is to tune the tenor to the chanter. Then tune the bass to the tenor, then tune the baritone to both the bass and the tenor drones not in isolation or with simply the tenor or bass. Also find that happy medium between sharp and flat with bag pressure for all the drones. My baritone drone is the most sensitive so I have it slightly flat so it squeezes into tune rather than out of tune.
I’m sure others have some good tips as well.
Sounds like phase locking is keeping your drones in sync; however they may diverge under playing pressure(s). If bari+bass don’t agree, I’d suggest tuning them to each other and repeating the process (or tuning bari to tenor, then bass to tenor).
Sometimes I tune each drone separately, to sidestep the issue of phase-locking altogether. Phase-locking is your friend when playing but when tuning it can obscure problems.
What’s phase locking?
I agree in tuning bari to tenor and bass to tenor, after already tuning tenor to back D and A. It just seems to be the easiest to hear for me.