SevenCastleForest

We don’t want AI slop.
Stop sending us AI slop.
Stop wasting our time with AI slop.
It doesn’t sound good.
It’s antithetical to our core values.
You didn’t even make it.
Knock it off.

im gonna say this really loud this morning

i really need everyone who thinks theyre being annoying about the things they love to do it more. do it louder. your happiness is so special and wonderful to witness and i hope you learn to love the space you take up in this world like we all love it

YouTube video by SevenCastleForest City of Tears, from Hollow Knight - 2x Game Boy chiptune

I started this back in fall of 2023, then put it aside and picked it up again a few times, poking at it here and there in between other projects. With Silksong releasing, I circled back to finally finish it! Hope you enjoy my take on City of Tears from Hollow Knight:
youtu.be/XtIXbjrfhx4

YouTube video by Bee hosting Drawesome Devs Solo Dev Interview - The 2025 Adventure Game You Won't Want to Miss

New episode of Bee Hosting Drawesome Devs, where @diabeetes.bsky.social interviews the creator of upcoming point-and-click adventure Casebook 1899: The Leipzig Murders. (I wrote the little chiptune jingle during the “drawing” segments in these interviews)
youtu.be/Lq9YnlWtFdk?...

YouTube video by SevenCastleForest Parasite Eve - "Urban Noise" Sega Genesis remix

Here's my Sega Genesis/MegaDrive arrangement of "Urban Noise," the world map music from Parasite Eve, originally by Yoko Shimomura.

I wanted to honor Shimomura's awesome original piece while still exploring that particular Genesis sound. Hope you enjoy!
youtu.be/72eM6AA16Zo

YouTube video by Lalo Schifrin - Topic Theme from Enter the Dragon (Main Title)

I only just learned that Lalo Schifrin died a few days ago. Folks will remember him for the Mission Impossible theme but this was the tune I loved growing up: youtu.be/0uNR_4UdfxA?...

Ribby: The Game: The Demo: The Soundtrack, by megan 21 track album

Really enjoying this little soundtrack for a game that will probably never be released. NES and GB chiptune by the super-talented Megan! diamondthorns.bandcamp.com/album/ribby-...

YouTube video by SevenCastleForest Lunar: The Silver Star "Fighting Through the Darkness" NES chiptune (2A03+VRC6)

Here's my chiptune cover of the intro song "Fighting Through the Darkness" from Lunar: The Silver Star on Sega CD! Made in FamiTracker NES chiptune with the VRC6 expansion.

The original song is only in the Sega CD version of this great game. Hope you enjoy my take on it!
youtu.be/Yub5zab9sAM

Check out this awesome pixel art by @lakakalo.bsky.social created in support of Game On to End Lupus on Twitch! #GOTEL

Check out Bee's new gamedev interview! (This video features my chiptunes as well)

YouTube video by SevenCastleForest Heart of the Ninja: Stage 01 - chiptunes for a portable brawler

Here's the Stage 01 chiptune music for a nonexistent Game Boy brawler, written in Furnace. Picture something like Streets of Rage, but portable, and starring a female ninja who gains cybernetic power upgrades along the way! GB pixel art thumbnail by @lakakalo.bsky.social

youtu.be/k-r8cAMsqyY

Hmm. You DON'T get polyphonic output from a single pulse channel, that's not possible. Fast arpeggiation is a trick to squeeze a chord out of one channel but it makes a very distinctive rippled sound, often associated with C64 music. If you're talking about the warbling here, it's a vibrato effect.

But generally: the "main" voices of the melody are standard NES voices, while the faint backing chords (mostly represented as the thin little slender note lines scrolling downwards) are the expansion voices.

If you look at the waveforms at the very top, they're color-coded to correspond with the notes they're currently playing. The ones that say "2A03" above them are standard NES voices, while the "VRC6" ones are an expansion chip (same extra chip included in Japanese Castlevania 3).

Thanks! I'll do my best 👍

YouTube video by SevenCastleForest "Buzzing with Ideas" - original NES chiptune, FamiTracker 2A03+VRC6

New NES #chiptune written for indie gamedev interviews on @diabeetes.bsky.social's YT channel!

This tune plays during the little Pictionary segments in Bee's interviews. I tried to create a fun, playful vibe for these moments of creativity to play out. Hope you enjoy!
youtu.be/Lb0tomanuDg

Watch Bee’s awesome interview with point & click indie dev! Also this video includes new original chiptune from me, during the Pictionary drawing segments 💛

Apparently @csmall451.bsky.social is better at promoting my music than I am 😅 but yeah! Here's my NES chiptune take on "Get Back" by The Beatles!

Thank you!!

Soon, my coworkers will ask how my little vacation went. I cannot hope to explain to them what it was like going to MAGFest for the first time ever, giving a panel discussion, and then playing my chiptune music on a stage with my heroes in the audience.

Super MAGFest panels today! 2:30 with @winterion.com and Alex Mirowski in panel room 3, and then again at 8pm with @ducksindisguise.bsky.social and @sevencastleforest.bsky.social ! Come on down and discuss teaching with us!

Going to MAGFest for the first time ever, and not just as a fan. I’m speaking in a panel “Teaching Video Game Music to Non-Musicians” Thursday at 8 Eastern. Also maybe playing my chiptunes at the ChipSpace at some point! Far outside my comfort zone but I’m sure I’ll do fine 😅

Most of the best creative stuff I’ve ever done involved a dumb mistake or something unintentional that led me to a discovery. Listen to failure 😅

Shovel Knight, immediately

SevenCastleForest - Twitch I make chiptunes on Twitch! I like to share my process and nerd out about game music in my streams. Sometimes I play games too. Come hang out!

Streaming to pay tribute to my mom, who died suddenly on November 26. We’ll talk about how awesome she was, and play the retro games she loved on Game Boy and TurboGrafx-16. Thanks for tuning in ❤️
www.twitch.tv/sevencastlef...

Planning a stream this Friday, 5pm Pacific, 8pm Eastern. An unusual stream, I want to pay tribute to my mom, who died suddenly a few weeks ago. We'll talk about how funny she was, and we'll play her favorite puzzle and pinball games on Game Boy and TurboGrafx-16 ❤️

www.twitch.tv/sevencastlef...

energetic #gameboy music 🎸