Start IceWM from the command line *and* get sound working?

So, I hate window managers. I hate them all. My current distribution is Ubuntu 12.04. Here is my /etc/init/lightdm.conf: # LightDM - light Display Manager # # The display manager service manages the X servers running on the # system, providing login and auto-login services # # based on gdm upstart script exit 0; In short, I do everything in the TTY. Setting my system up like this means that TTY7 is full of system messages. I use the other ones and screen to do almost everything. And I'm happy that way. If I really really need to, I start Ubuntu 12.10's default desktop environment, lightdm, by typing sudo lightdm into TTY6, which opens the display manager itself in TTY7. When I'm done, I just CTRL + C in TTY6 to kill the display manager. (Unfortunately this also means that going back to TTY7 will freeze my computer entirely, a bug I have yet to report. But as long as I stay away from that black hole, things are fine.) Lately I've been playing around with other WMs, notably IceWM. I start it by typing xinit /usr/bin/icewm-session into TTY6, and voila. It's much nicer than lightdm, moving at light speed by comparison. There's just one problem. I get sound output for IceWM if I move over to a TTY. But when I am in the actual TTY that runs IceWM, looking at Skype or something, I can't actually hear anything. So, for example, I send some messages on Skype, then move over into my warm, cozy TTY1 (always open to weechat-curses) while my interlocutor writes her reply, and then and only then do I actually hear the stupid chat alert noises. Or, for example, I go over into the nice, warm, darkness of TTY2 and start playing some music with mplayer. I hear music up until the point when I switch back into TTY7, where IceWM is running. (This doesn't happen when I'm running lightdm.) Is this integration with ALSA all just a bit lacking IceWM, or might there be a more orthodox way to be WM-agnostic? (For what it's worth, I've read of other people having issues with sound not playing in IceWM. But I'm wondering if there's a more recommended approach to doing what I do.)