sound?

Hi,
I still haven't quite figured out how to set up my sound system. As far as
I understand, I have the alsa-drivers loaded. However, different programs
can not play sound at the same time. Instead, the different sound bits are
lined up and played after another. That means that if I listen to radio
and use gaim at the same time, I only hear the radio. But if I then shut
down kaffeine (my radio app) several hours later, I hear a long line of
"pling"s and "plong"s that gaim was transmitting while it was in use. ANy
suggestions?

--
Johannes Wilm