The tradition's universal cadence: one phrase repeated three times, its length chosen so the final stroke — almost always a Dha — lands exactly on sam. With gaps between statements it is damdar; run continuously, bedam.
The arithmetic is the craft: phrase length times three (plus two gaps, if any) must equal the distance to sam. Players learn to solve this instantly from any point in the cycle. Tihais close kaidas, tukras, and entire solos; the threefold shape is so definitive that hearing two statements creates the certainty of the third.