The talented Malaysian Ray Mak has returned to entertaining audiences with his piano covers, usually inspired by what’s popular. Other than that, he would respond to audience requests and would also play something that is his favourite. Needless to say, he has only added to the fever surrounding the animated film, K-Pop Demon Hunters. Unsurprisingly, many of the songs in the film are either upbeat and catchy, or evoke a certain level of sadness.
Ray Mak has been creating covers of songs – helped by his surroundings in a multicultural Malaysia and neighbouring other Southeast Asian countries, as well as a global outlook – given that Malaysia is a Commonwealth nation. He has been on YouTube since the early days when the streaming platform was initiated and brought to Malaysia.
Mak’s signature style is play-by-ear. Interestingly, while he did go through some formal piano lessons when younger, he prefers to play by ear and not read notes. Interestingly, his cover versions come accompanied with sheet music that guide other piano players wishing to play his versions of the songs.
In this particular set of cover songs, a particular brand of digital piano is employed, thanks to a collaboration effort. Due to the nature of the songs, Mak can be seen dancing/moving along to the beat.
There's also a variety of versions available, as shown on his YouTube channel. There’s the piano version, which is just solely the piano as the instrument used. Another version is known as the piano mix, where there is the instrumental backing track to accompany the piano-playing. Then, there’s also the acoustic version where the track with the lyrics is used and the audio is slightly softer in volume.
Ray Mak, who studied in the US, has qualifications including in studies of food science and health science, as well as banking and finance. Mak has credited his family and siblings for helping to keep the channel alive. He is also greatly inspired by a certain music school and friends from different backgrounds that have helped influence his style and technique.
Mak has covered songs including Taeyang’s Wedding Dress, Yiruma’s River Flows in You, Love the Way you Lie by Rihanna ft. Eminem, Down by Jay Sean ft. Lil’ Wayne.
Channel followers have noticed a hiatus… until there was this recent update on playing cover versions of songs from K-Pop Demon Hunters, initially meant to be a kids movie, but has found a way to captivate both young and even older adults.
Happy grooving (and Honmoon-sealing)!
UPDATED 10 OCT 2025
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