Gendhing structure refers to colotomic structure of gamelan compositions in general. Gendhing (also written, as in the old orthography, gending) can also be used to refer to a specific class of colotomic structures used in Javanese gamelan music. At its simplest, colotomic may be taken to mean, "cyclicly punctuating". More clearly, "gongs of different sizes are used to mark off circular segments, or cycles, of musical time." Though a colotomic structure may be hundreds of units long and is generally explicitly stated, it is akin to hierarchical Western meter.