I'm unfamiliar w/the amps. Ran EV back in the 70's & still like them. Alesis is a good product.
Looked at the mixer on-line & it seems to be capable but is somewhat limiting. If I looked at the correct manual, you only have 2 monitor sends & but have 4 busses. With 4 you can separate drums/instruments/vocals/wireless, which is really all you need. Having 2 monitors just means they'll have to share. A drum shield (if you don't have one) is a big help, as it especially keeps the cymbals from overpowering the drum mix. A hard hitting drummer can make the cymbals cut through everything-ouch!
Having some headphones at the board will help isolate things you can't quite pinpoint listening to the PA. Senn 280 are good all around console cans that are affordable. Our church has a set of those & I keep them on the recorder & bring my ATH for the board. They're not as flat but are more representative of what the PA sounds like.
Mics make a huge difference in the sound & I won't get into them too much except to say if you can get Shure Beta 58's for vocals you won't have any problems there. 57's work great for instruments & drums. Go direct w/bass & keys.
It seems like every week there's a ground loop or cable malfunction & it's an ongoing process. Most of the musicians bring their own cabinet & heads & some of the drummers bring their own cymbals. We rarely keep the same stage set-up except for the drums but it's a semi-permanent installation, so we just plug into the boxes on stage instead of running a snake, which makes things so much easier (& quicker) to change.
The way I like to set up the board is start w/the drums on the left & then the instruments across the stage then the vocals across the stage. It makes it easier to find the channel you're looking for. I also try & keep my eyes on the band when they're playing so I can follow leads, etc. I just have my finger on the slider waiting. Sometimes I have to follow a singer w/the fader, as some don't have that good of control over mic positioning and/or vocal awareness.
If you have a music director it's important to have a rapport w/him or her so you can relay some of the "touchy" points to them-as it's their job to direct the musicians. It's not my job (or place) to tell a singer how to hold a mic, unless I'm asked. This isn't the same thing I mentioned in my previous reply about placing instruments, as some musicians have little stage experience & don't know much about it or never learned where to stand in the first place. Also, sometimes you have to ask them to turn their amps up or down or maybe ask the keyboardist to play both the loud & soft patches.
To go off on a tangent briefly, I've worked w/a few local bands & after continually asking the band leader to have the lead guitarist turn down his amp, I told him I would never mix for them again while this fellow was in the band. There's just no way you can overcome someone who wants to play over the top of everybody all night long.
One of the things I really enjoy about working w/the church is that everybody leaves their ego at the door. It's so much easier!
Oh, one other thing I wanted to elaborate on was you have to have control over the stage volume to a point. You might have to reposition amps, etc. so they don't blow out the folks sitting right in front of them. Always walk around the auditorium while the band is playing to get a sense of the balance & how it sounds in all areas of the room. Make your adj. then go back on the floor & listen. That way you'll be confident at the board even though it might sound different than when you were walking around but you'll understand the difference between being in the seats & at the board.
Looked at the mixer on-line & it seems to be capable but is somewhat limiting. If I looked at the correct manual, you only have 2 monitor sends & but have 4 busses. With 4 you can separate drums/instruments/vocals/wireless, which is really all you need. Having 2 monitors just means they'll have to share. A drum shield (if you don't have one) is a big help, as it especially keeps the cymbals from overpowering the drum mix. A hard hitting drummer can make the cymbals cut through everything-ouch!
Having some headphones at the board will help isolate things you can't quite pinpoint listening to the PA. Senn 280 are good all around console cans that are affordable. Our church has a set of those & I keep them on the recorder & bring my ATH for the board. They're not as flat but are more representative of what the PA sounds like.
Mics make a huge difference in the sound & I won't get into them too much except to say if you can get Shure Beta 58's for vocals you won't have any problems there. 57's work great for instruments & drums. Go direct w/bass & keys.
It seems like every week there's a ground loop or cable malfunction & it's an ongoing process. Most of the musicians bring their own cabinet & heads & some of the drummers bring their own cymbals. We rarely keep the same stage set-up except for the drums but it's a semi-permanent installation, so we just plug into the boxes on stage instead of running a snake, which makes things so much easier (& quicker) to change.
The way I like to set up the board is start w/the drums on the left & then the instruments across the stage then the vocals across the stage. It makes it easier to find the channel you're looking for. I also try & keep my eyes on the band when they're playing so I can follow leads, etc. I just have my finger on the slider waiting. Sometimes I have to follow a singer w/the fader, as some don't have that good of control over mic positioning and/or vocal awareness.
If you have a music director it's important to have a rapport w/him or her so you can relay some of the "touchy" points to them-as it's their job to direct the musicians. It's not my job (or place) to tell a singer how to hold a mic, unless I'm asked. This isn't the same thing I mentioned in my previous reply about placing instruments, as some musicians have little stage experience & don't know much about it or never learned where to stand in the first place. Also, sometimes you have to ask them to turn their amps up or down or maybe ask the keyboardist to play both the loud & soft patches.
To go off on a tangent briefly, I've worked w/a few local bands & after continually asking the band leader to have the lead guitarist turn down his amp, I told him I would never mix for them again while this fellow was in the band. There's just no way you can overcome someone who wants to play over the top of everybody all night long.
One of the things I really enjoy about working w/the church is that everybody leaves their ego at the door. It's so much easier!
Oh, one other thing I wanted to elaborate on was you have to have control over the stage volume to a point. You might have to reposition amps, etc. so they don't blow out the folks sitting right in front of them. Always walk around the auditorium while the band is playing to get a sense of the balance & how it sounds in all areas of the room. Make your adj. then go back on the floor & listen. That way you'll be confident at the board even though it might sound different than when you were walking around but you'll understand the difference between being in the seats & at the board.