Don Peake, a former member of The Wrecking Crew and session guitarist for artists like the Everly Brothers and Marvin Gaye, transitioned into film scoring in the 1970s. Though best known to some for his later work on Knight Rider, his early horror scores, particularly The Hills Have Eyes, are standout examples of experimental, tension-driven sound design. Peake’s use of jagged string attacks, warped electronics, and unsettling silence elevated the film’s sense of dread, turning the desert itself into a menacing character.
I did my best to capture the spirit of that soundtrack: broken, dusty, and desolate. Listen for brittle textures, distant metallic rattles, and ghostly choral swells all shaped through the Prophet X’s internal 8Dio sample library. No external instruments or effects were used except for one: the howl of the desert wind, created from a single user sample and layered throughout the piece like an ever-present specter.
The track unfolds in two parts:
Part One : A slow-building “title credits” sequence featuring scraping violins, atonal ethnic percussion (jew harp, cymbals, tablas), chaotic acoustic piano, and the occasional synth sweep.
Part Two : A driving “attack” section propelled by the Prophet X’s onboard arpeggiator, random note chaos, raw percussion, scraping dobro textures, and metallic impacts.
The full mix was run through a guitar amp simulator with high gain to add a jagged, volatile edge—something feral and unpolished, like the original film itself.
Hope you enjoy.
℗ Everett Dudgeon 2025
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJj98wS8Hg4
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