Mixing feedback please (medium-tempo acoustic)

[ehxhfl443]

Hi, this is my first time mixing live drum and instruments; I usually work on dance music. (Not that I am good with dance music though. I am a noob as you guys can see soon. I have worse knowledge on live music.)

I was trying to figure things out on my own, but except fixing details which I could do later in the process, I haven't got any clue what major issues need to be fixed before I do mastering.
I hope experienced mixers out there could give me a little piece of advice.

The link to my mixing work: (rough2) What Is Love mixing practice by ehxhfl443 | ehxhfl 443 | Free Listening on SoundCloud

Tracks I listened as references:
많이 사랑 했나보다 (Inst.) Guess I Loved You (Inst.) - YouTube
2010 월간 윤종신 - 이별의 온도 (Title Song) - YouTube
John Mayer - I Will Be Found (Lost At Sea) - YouTube

*It would be also really helpful if you could list some tracks that I could use as a reference. I am really not familiar with working on this type of music Thanks.

 

[CoolCat]

The references seem louder. the John Mayer track builds up to flat-smashed limiting loudness at the end which sounds worse than the intro. I guess thats how they do it make it loud then louder.

 

[Chili]

The MP3 clinic is the correct forum to get comments on your recordings. I moved your threads here.

 

[andrushkiwt]

What did you do to the drums? Listen to the snare at 1:37/1:38. How many db's of gain reduction are happening on that snare right there? It sounds like 10-12. Without hearing the raw track, it's hard to say, but most likely backing off the compression quite a bit will help the drum sound. Most pop/rock circumstances see snare compression in the 2-4db range. Yours is sounding like a cannonball going off when it should be a nice, mellow, relaxed drum sound.

 

[participant]

Nice jazzy piano piece. Agree that the snare hits (not the side stick) sound a bit weird. Are you hitting this with a limiter? Sounds like your threshold is just destroying the snare hits, making the snare sound tiny.