A tihai whose three statements are separated by pauses — "dam" is breath. The gaps are not rests from counting: they are counted exactly, and the arithmetic includes them (phrase times three, plus two equal gaps, reaching sam).
The gapped shape breathes; each statement lands, settles, and relaunches, which suits slower tempos and weighty phrases. The contrasting form is bedam — gapless. Players choose between them by the character of the phrase and the space available; a damdar tihai squeezed into too few matras loses its poise.