Mapping the Prompt “MTP”: A New Way to Structure Playlists with AI
This image reflects the tone and underlying structure of the article.
Can AI Curate a Truly Meaningful Playlist?
What happens when you ask ChatGPT, Claude, or even Grok—not just to pick songs,
but to structure a musical experience with intentional flow and emotional gravity?
That’s what Mapping the Prompt (MTP) is designed to explore.
MTP is a semantic framework originally built for Large Language Models (LLMs),
but it’s now being extended to a new use case: music playlist design.
By applying MTP’s structured nodes and directional flow to playlist curation,
we can give AI a universal roadmap for emotional storytelling through sound.
👉 GitHub Discussion #2 – 🎶 MTP Music Mapping Experiments ↗
Playlist Spotlight: “David’s Laboratory” by Claude
One of the most successful experiments so far was the classical playlist
“MTP: David’s Laboratory – Grow to Wither Classical (by Claude)”.
This playlist was generated by Claude through a structured MTP dialogue,
where each node in the 1+9+9+1 structure was carefully mapped to a musical piece.
The full generation process is available in the GitHub discussion thread above.
Experiment: Using Claude for MTP Curation
I ran an experiment to see whether Claude could interpret and apply the MTP framework ↗ to a very specific aesthetic theme.
Process:
- I first provided Claude with a PDF version of the MTP CONCEPT.md.
- Through natural language dialogue, we aligned on the intended theme and nuance.
- I introduced the reference: Alien: Covenant — specifically David’s museum-like research laboratory, asking if Claude could recognize its aesthetic qualities.
- We confirmed together that David’s Laboratory could be described as a Deep Green aesthetic, evolving from fresh green cultivation to dark green decay and ultimately sand-colored death.
- I mapped this to MTP’s Grow (Green) → Wither (Dark Green) → Sand Color progression.
- Claude explicitly agreed with this mapping, including the 🍃 → 🍂 symbolism.
- Finally, I prompted Claude to generate a 20-node MTP playlist with the following format:
Format:
| # | Node | Title | Composer | Reason | | --:| ----- | ----- | -------- | ------------------------------| | 1 | Start | ... | ... | ... | | 2 | Open | ... | ... | ... | ... | 20 | End | ... | ... | ... |Prompted Theme:
Alien: Covenant — David’s museum-like research laboratory
Genre: Classical music
Node progression: Grow to WitherClaude generated a full 20-node curation, divided into Side A (Cultivation & Knowledge) and Side B (Decay & Transcendence).
Highlights:
- Vivaldi’s Spring (Grow) → Vivaldi’s Winter (Wither): framing the artificial life cycle of cultivation and decay.
- Bach, Britten, Strauss, Ligeti, Bartók: intellectual and architectural foundations of “David’s” classical education.
- Pärt, Verdi, Orff, Penderecki, Fauré: mapping the descent into void, collapse, and post-human transcendence.
- A clear color evolution: Deep Green growth → Dark Green decay → Sand-colored ending.
This experiment shows that Claude not only understood the abstract MTP structure, but was also able to interpret cinematic aesthetics (David’s laboratory) into a coherent classical curation.
It demonstrates how different LLMs can contribute unique strengths:
- Grok excelled at structural mapping.
- Claude showed strong sensitivity to aesthetic color and atmosphere.
Output: MTP — MTP: David’s Laboratory – Grow to Wither Classical (by Claude) 1+9+9+1
Side A (Cultivation & Knowledge)
# Node Title Composer Reason 1 Start Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 Johann Sebastian Bach Beginning with architectural precision, laboratory foundations 2 Open Metamorphoses After Ovid Benjamin Britten Opening transformations, mythological becoming scientific 3 Power Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30 Richard Strauss Godlike creative power, Übermensch philosophy 4 Return Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge Benjamin Britten Returning to classical forms with modern methodology 5 Grow The Four Seasons: Spring – “Allegro” Antonio Vivaldi Cultivation begins, green growth in controlled environment 6 Helix String Quartet No. 2 György Ligeti Spiral microstructures, mathematical genetic patterns 7 Focus The Art of Fugue: Contrapunctus XIV Johann Sebastian Bach Concentrated intellectual pursuit, unfinished perfection 8 Enter Lux Aeterna György Ligeti Entering the sacred space of creation 9 Flow Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta Béla Bartók Laboratory processes flowing, mechanical precision 10 Close Academic Festival Overture Johannes Brahms Closing scholarly achievement, institutional knowledge Side B (Decay & Transcendence)
# Node Title Composer Reason 11 Still Silentium Arvo Pärt Still specimens in glass cases, preserved silence 12 Void Requiem: Libera Me Giuseppe Verdi Void of humanity, liberation from mortal flesh 13 Surge Carmina Burana: O Fortuna Carl Orff Surge of destructive experimentation 14 Wither The Four Seasons: Winter – “Largo” Antonio Vivaldi Withering cultivation, experiments dying in deep green decay 15 Collapse Götterdämmerung: Funeral March Richard Wagner Collapse of human civilization, David’s intended twilight 16 Haze Atmosphères György Ligeti Hazy boundaries between life and death 17 Drift Sinfonia Antartica Ralph Vaughan Williams Drifting through desolate planetary landscape 18 Abyss Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima Krzysztof Penderecki Abyss of mass destruction, xenomorph birth 19 Fade Barber: Adagio for Strings Samuel Barber Fading humanity, final mourning 20 End Requiem: In Paradisum Gabriel Fauré Ending in perverted paradise, David’s new Eden Color Evolution
Grow (5) – Vivaldi Spring: Fresh green of new cultivation → Wither (14) – Vivaldi Winter: Deep green decay to sand-colored death
The symmetry of Vivaldi’s seasons frames the laboratory’s cycle: artificial spring growth leading to inevitable winter decay, mirroring David’s experiments from hope to horror.
David’s Aesthetic Philosophy
This curation reflects David’s cold classical education merged with his godlike ambitions—from Bach’s mathematical perfection to Ligeti’s alien soundscapes, representing the journey from human artistic achievement to post-human transcendence.
Visualizing the MTP Grid and the 1+9+9+1 Structure
To follow along, you don’t need to memorize every MTP node.
Just keep two key ideas in mind:
- A 3×3 grid of colors and moods (Side A and Side B)
- A “1+9+9+1” storyline structure that spans beginning to end
These two visuals below represent the MTP framework used for playlist construction.
| Side A (1+9) | Side B (9+1) |
|---|---|
 |  |
The grid offers a spatial metaphor. The colors and positions evoke motion,
tension, harmony, and polarity — like breathing in and out across a cosmic map.
The 3rd Track: Building Anticipation with “Power (Red)”
In the MTP flow, the third track is key. It corresponds to Power (Red) 🔥
a turning point of energy, release, and rhythmic momentum.
If the first two tracks are slow or introspective, the listener unconsciously anticipates a shift.
When that third track erupts with power, it lands with maximum impact.
It’s the same moment a skilled DJ uses to raise the energy of a room —
a carefully timed drop that transforms the entire experience.
Color and Meaning: Every Node Has Its Own Flavor
Other nodes work the same way — not by rules, but by feeling:
- 🟢 Grow (Green) may feel like something slowly sprouting, stretching toward light.
- 🌀 Helix (Center) is spiral-like — the gravitational axis connecting ideas.
- ⚪️ Focus (White) pulls clarity into a single point, blurring out distraction.
The nodes aren’t rigid categories — they’re meaningful textures
to guide both creation and perception.
Is There a Universal Way to Structure a Playlist?
In classical music, you might have “fast–slow–fast” movements.
In albums, artists design track orders to shape a world or narrative.
But playlists are different: they’re often casual, ephemeral, or vibe-based.
They lack a shared structure that listeners or curators can universally apply.
That’s what makes MTP’s 1+9+9+1 flow so interesting.
The Novelty of the “1+9+9+1” Structure
MTP suggests a universal flow of:
- Beginning → Build → Core → Unravel → End
- Side A / Side B as twin halves — growth and collapse, breath in and out
- White and black nodes balancing tension like a mirrored arc
It’s a symmetric structure, one that can be reused across genres and even cultures.
Once internalized, it becomes a mental blueprint for mapping emotion,
storytelling, and energy across any musical format.
It also enables cross-comparison — like comparing decks in a card game.
Different playlists, same structure — now strategy and improvisation emerge.
Currently Published MTP Playlists
These playlists are all based on the “1+9+9+1” MTP structure
and were built through structured prompts with various LLMs.
AI-Curated MTP Playlists:
| Artwork | LLM | Title | Apple Music | Spotify |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Grok | MTP: Midnight Piano 1+9+9+1 | Link ↗ | Link ↗ |
 | Grok | MTP: Sublime Destruction in Classical Music 1+9+9+1 | Link ↗ | Link ↗ |
 | Claude | MTP: Deep Blue Strings – Classical Curation 1+9+9+1 | Link ↗ | Link ↗ |
 | Claude | MTP: David’s Laboratory – Grow to Wither Classical 1+9+9+1 | Link ↗ | Link ↗ |
The artworks assigned to the playlists generated with Grok and Claude were created using DALL·E, based on the tone and content of each playlist.
Each one is a futuristic abstract image that visually reflects the playlist’s mood and structure.Currently, the process is done manually, but it’s fully possible to generate original artwork for each playlist as part of the MTP experience.
Additional prompts and generation logs are available on GitHub:
👉 GitHub Discussion #2 – 🎶 MTP Music Mapping Experiments ↗
Try It Yourself
MTP isn’t meant to dictate taste or enforce rigid templates.
It’s a shared map — one that connects emotional, musical, and semantic space.
By using color, position, and progression, it gives you a framework to explore and remix.
So why not try building your own “1+9+9+1” playlist?
Use MTP as a map — and go on a new musical journey.
The following PDF is a snapshot of the Concept page currently published on GitHub as of September 6, 2025.
When downloaded and provided to an LLM, it helps the model understand the conceptual classification of the 20 nodes in Mapping the Prompt (MTP).