Q: How is the nylon strapping for tabla or baya, and how does it compare to the regular strap?

A: Here is our take on this (having reheaded hundreds if not thousands of tablas over the years) The nylon strapping is good. It has many positive features. Compared with regular strap, it is easier to lace (much easier on the hands) and easier to pull. It doesn't break when you are pulling it up to tension, and it pulls uniformly. It will require more initial pulling, but once it is at the right tension it will stay. (Often after pulling up a new head, it stretches out after a day, and needs to be pulled again.) Another plus is that once on the drum, it is not temperature and climate sensitive.

The downside is that it is not traditional, and may look a little strange to the traditional minded viewer. From a practical point of view, it doesn't grip the blocks as much, so you can't use the blocks as much for tuning as you can traditional strap. But this depends a lot on the shape of your tabla and the size of the blocks.