Emma Korynta | The Breeze | Posted: Friday, August 28, 2015 4:51 pm

The second you step on campus, you hear the surging drums. As you come closer to Bridgeforth Stadium, you begin to hear Director Scott Rikkers’ wholehearted encouragement. Then the brass comes to life and Michael Jackson’s “Earth Song” fills the air. 

It’s the hottest part of the day, but the Marching Royal Dukes are dedicated to this year’s show. They break up into sectionals to work on everything from perfecting notes to practicing drill while holding air instruments.

“Every season we do is unique,” Rikkers, associate director of bands and director of the MRDs, said. “It has its own personality, the band has its own personality.”

Rikkers believes that there are many factors that separate each season from the rest. 

“Our season is defined by the membership but also by what’s going on campus, the games we’re playing here and the trips we’re taking,” Rikkers said. “This year will be unique because this will be the first year [in three years] we don’t have a major trip planned.”

The MRDs usually put a lot of their focus into a trip. Last year, they traveled to Rome to play at the Vatican, and the year before they marched in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

“Since we’re not traveling [this year], we’re trying to focus on us,” said senior music education major and MRD drum major Paige Durr. “It’s a good year to build back up our confidence. We didn’t ever lose anything, but it’s nice to have a season where we’re not traveling. We can focus on making the shows and the home games the best they can be.” 

They hope to use this gap year as an opportunity to improve themselves and target their attention to the JMU community. 

“We’re trying to be like the university,” Rikkers said. “We’re constantly evolving to become the best organization we can be. It’s always a matter of, ‘OK, what can we do better this year?’ Not because we weren’t good before, but because we want to make sure there’s a constant evolution with our program.” 

As the university continues to expand and make changes to the campus, the MRDs hope to have constant progression. 

“I think we do a really good job of entertaining crowds, but also providing an opportunity for the students to become better musicians and better performers,” Rikkers said. “We try to get music that’s gonna challenge the membership but also be accommodating to what the audience wants to see.” 

In that fashion, the MRDs have prepared an exciting and familiar show. The first show of the year, aptly named Rhythm Nation, is all about the rhythm. The eclectic show has a combination of tunes from Michael Jackson and Jackson 5, the Latin song “El Toro Caliente,” George Gershwin and more.  

“Every year we try to program a variety of music for the members to get to work on different styles, but also for the audience,” Rikkers said. “If they’re going to be watching a show more than once, or watching a show throughout the year, we want to give them a variety of programs.” 

The MRDs are also working on a second show compiled of classic rock as well as a potential third show including hits from the summer’s biggest movies, such as “Jurassic World” and “Superman.”

Even in the most stressful of times, the band is energetic and motivated. The band is largely influenced on and off the field by Rikkers, who says that he teaches people, not music. 

“You can tell that he really cares about all of us as people and he wants to improve all of us as people,” said senior music education major and drum major Megan Hendrix. 

Rikkers and the drum majors emphasize the importance of serving the 450-plus members of the band.

“We’re not just focused on making good performers,” Rikkers said. “We’re focused on making good people.”

The annual MRD’s summer band camp marks the beginning of a new school year and the revival of a temporarily quiet campus. The brass instruments’ echoing melodies serve as an alarm of sorts for everyone to return to school. 

“I think everyone on campus is looking forward to students coming back and the campus coming back alive,” Rikkers said. “This is kind of the start of that, with the marching band and the sports teams coming back early. It’s really exciting to get the energy back on campus.”

Through full days under the beating sun kept at a metronomic pace, the MRDs have come to appreciate the group they are a part of and the music they produce.  

“We are a collection of very unique individuals who are connected by our love of music and our desire to be a part of something good, something big at JMU,” Rikkers said. “The connectivity happens through what we do, but the uniqueness happens through how we do it.”

Contact Emma Korynta at korynten@dukes.jmu.edu.