October Composition Prompts! (Comptober)
Hi all! I thought it would be fun to have an event like Inktober but for musicians, composer, and audio engineers, so I made some daily, weekly, and month long “Comptober” prompts. The rules are simple: write a piece for each of the prompts. “A piece” is sort of loosely defined to make it more accessible. As long as it’s some form of audio, anything is fair game! For example, you could do a performance on your instrument, compose a piece to be played, or make a soundscape to name a few. Feel free to add a description of what you’re writing about, as I kept the prompts fairly vague. If you decide to participate, make sure to use the hashtag #comptober so people can find your work. With that being said, here we go!
No time limit, but feel free to add a description of your piece.
October 1st: Write a piece for autumn/fall
October 2nd: Write a piece about the woods (scary or not scary, it’s up to you)
October 3rd: Write a piece about a ghost/spirit
October 4th: Write a piece based on a liminal space
October 5th: Write a piece that makes the listener feel nervous or unsettled
October 6th: Write a piece about entering a dark basement
October 7th: Write a piece about your favorite Halloween/horror movie or TV show
October 8th: Write a piece about *something* at the end of a hallway
October 9th: Write a piece based on a scary place (real or fictional)
October 10th: Write a piece about insects
October 11th: Write a piece based around children (toys, arranging a children’s song to make it scary, etc.)
October 12th: Write a piece about the deep ocean/abyss
October 13th: Write a piece about a cursed object
October 14th: Write a piece about a corn maze (scary or not, it’s up to you)
October 15th: Write a piece based on any Stephen King book (or movies/TV shows based on his books)
October 16th: Write a piece about your favorite monster or cryptid
October 17th: Write a piece about zombies
October 18th: Write a piece about a graveyard/catacombs
October 19th: Write a piece based on Dr. Jekyl and Mister Hyde
October 20th: Write a piece based on your favorite horror video game (if you don’t have a favorite horror video game, choose another horror medium including books, movies, or comics)
October 21st: Write a piece about a humanoid object (including dolls and mannequins)
October 22nd: Write a piece about a haunted circus
October 23rd: Write a piece about someone being pursued by…something
October 24th: Write a piece combining horror and space (think Alien/ Alien Isolation)
October 25th: Write a piece about a serial killer
October 26th: Write a piece about a neighbor but something about them seems…odd
October 27th: Write a piece about a haunted house (either a house that’s actually haunted or a haunted house attraction)
October 28th: Write a piece based on a work by Edgar Allen Poe
October 29th: Write a piece about one of your fears
October 30th: Write a piece about tunnels, trenches, sewers, or other underground space
October 31st: Write a piece about Halloween
For the weekly prompts, there will be one picture for each week. Write a longer piece focused on each picture (at least two minutes), and write a little bit of backstory too!
Write a piece about some sort of spooky transformation. Examples of this could include a person being bitten by a vampire, a werewolf transforming on the full moon, or a person slowly going insane. The only other requirements are that the piece should be at least five minutes long, and that you provide a little information on what you’re writing about. You have all month to do this prompt, but if you finish before Halloween, feel free to post it early!
Happy Comptober everyone! I’m looking forward to seeing what you create!
