We at allkpop focus on bringing the best of kpop straight to you, but this month we're going to be casting the limelight away from the idols over to a few deserving talents that you just might be familiar with! As you all know, the internet obviously plays a big role in the expansion of the kpop movement, and Youtube has been the host of lots of fanmade videos (UCCs) ranging from dance covers to parodies. For this mini-series, we've selected a small handful of Youtube icons that we thought deserved some time in the spotlight for their work. We're going to start with Yoonha Hwang (Yoonha85TV), an extremely popular pianist who is known not only for his excellent kpop covers but versatility as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AdATtxWKJY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9yaq5P-WIg As one of top five most subscribed Youtubers of South Korea of all time with over 26,000 subscribers, Yoonha has gained attention not only for the quality of his original covers but the fact that he plays by the ear with no sheet music whatsoever. When we asked him whether he considered himself more of a performer or a composer, he replied, "So far I've been playing lots of popular songs by ear. I think it shows the image of the "performer" and "arranger." But my ultimate goal is to be a professional composer and pianist, and I'm planning to upload some originals on Youtube soon." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq-uOoLjSO0 So how did Yoonha get to where he is today? In our interview, Yoonha revealed that he started taking piano at six but had to stop at thirteen due to financial problems, which cut his training to be a classical pianist short. However, he continued to compose melodies and enjoy improvisation playing at fourteen, and has continued since. At eighteen as a high school student, Yoonha asked his parents to allow him to major in music in college, but they were against his idea and wanted him to major in a "safer" job that would guarantee him a stabler future. Thus, Yoonha entered Yonsei University to pursue engineering in 2004. However, Yoonha's interest in music didn't end there - in his first year at Yonsei, Yoonha took his second semester off and prepared for a performance test and CAST in order to switch his career. Normally in Korean universities, it's impossible for anyone to freely change their major. The next year, Yoonha reentered Yonsei University - fortunately with a music major this time around. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbvmtNcyRk8 Yoonha also revealed the steps he took from start to finish to produce his videos. He was kind enough to break it down into seven steps:

Step 1: Listen to the song. Step 2: Memorize the melody, harmonies and chorus. Step 3. Analyze the rhythm, then apply it to the left hand accompaniment with his own style. Step 4. Set the lights, piano, camera & voice recorder. Step 5. Record video; HQ recorder separately used for audio Step 6. Edit - encode, combine video & audio files Step 7. Upload!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ag2zvE3db0 Yoonha has also gained lots of international attention for his covers outside of kpop, including Billboard Hot 100 tracks by the Black Eyed Peas, Britney Spears, Jay Sean, Owl City, Miley Cyrus, Ke$ha, Jason Derulo and more. He even has a playlist dedicated to Lady Gaga! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOTEMIcl_QY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTHqo_8Nnj8 "Though most of the covers I uploaded are kpop and pop songs, I'm also interested in classical and jazz music," Yoonha revealed. "And I compose songs (New [Age], Classical, Jazz and Pop style). So I would like to show different kinds of music with my own style." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvAjp0Px-6A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbpdV-vQ20Y So what can we expect from Yoonha in the future? "With Youtube base, I will extend my music work space constantly. And I've been preparing several things to release an official album in public," Yoonha informed us. "I hope I could reveal some of [my] plans to my fans." It's surprising to us that Yoonha is currently an independent artist without an agency, but if he's been able to get this far with Youtube alone, we can only imagine what he's got ahead for us! To wrap up this feature, Yoonha gave a personal message just for our readers:

Nowadays I feel time is the most important thing in my life.  So I'm really appreciated that so many people spend their precious time watching my performance online. I'll do my best as always not to disappoint you and I'm glad as a Korean person that so many people around the world love our culture. Please keep an eye on my enthusiastic effort!! Thanks again.

Big thanks to Yoonha & Brian for taking their time to participate in this feature! Stay tuned to allkpop for Part 2 of this mini-series next week :) Check Yoonha out on... Youtube Facebook MySpace Twitter Fanbridge (mailing list) Official blog coming soon!