Welcome sound in Mathematica

Question

My first introduction with Mathematica was about eleven years ago. It was still version 4.2 which had a nice welcome sound whenever you opened a new notebook. However this welcome sound is absent in all newer versions. So, I was wondering if there is a way to add somehow this welcome sound (or any other music theme) in newer versions like 9 or 10. Any ideas?

Many thanks in advance!

I remember that. Was it also in one of the demo notebooks? If so, it should be on on the Library Archive somewhere. But I cannot find it. http://library.wolfram.com/infocenter/Demos/ — Szabolcs, Oct 26 '15 at 18:22
I would also like to have the code to produce the original startup sound. — Szabolcs, Oct 26 '15 at 18:37
@Szabolcs unless anyone has a copy of version 4.2, it might be necessary to ask Arnoud for the sound file. — Oleksandr R., Oct 26 '15 at 18:47
@OleksandrR. Didn't it come with the code to generate it? I mean the function to write inside Play. Maybe I remember wrong. — Szabolcs, Oct 26 '15 at 18:51
@Szabolcs I can't clearly recall what the sound was like, although I seem to remember it being something similar to the sound of a harp. You may be right, but I don't have any recollection of that, and I think it would be difficult to generate. — Oleksandr R., Oct 26 '15 at 18:59
@Oleksandr If you have version 7 handy, the startup sound is FileNameJoin[{$InstallationDirectory, "SystemFiles", "FrontEnd", "SystemResources", "Windows", "Startup.wav"}]. Note this was only ever available on Windows. — ilian, Oct 26 '15 at 19:02
@ilian The same directory is also present in v9. If I copy-paste the .wav file into in will it work? — Vaggelis_Z, Oct 26 '15 at 19:14
Probably not, since the option has been removed. But you could add to your init.m file something like task := EmitSound[Import["ExampleData/rule30.wav"]]; RunScheduledTask[task, {0.25}] — ilian, Oct 26 '15 at 19:31
Funnily enough, one of the first things I did on fresh Mathematica installations back then was to turn the sound off. Not in the same league as that paperclip, but still… — J. M.'s missing motivation, Oct 26 '15 at 23:35
@ilian Could you post a more detailed answer on how to edit the init.m file? BTW I have v9 and v10. — Vaggelis_Z, Oct 27 '15 at 12:54
Vaggelis, just open the file in Mathematica, and paste @ilian's snippet in. — J. M.'s missing motivation, Oct 27 '15 at 13:00
@J.M. First of all where this file is located? Second paste the rule anywhere I want inside? — Vaggelis_Z, Oct 27 '15 at 13:03
@J.M. With a quick search in Mathematica's folder I found several init.m files in many sub-folders. Which of them should I edit? — Vaggelis_Z, Oct 27 '15 at 13:05
@J.M. Sorry I should nave mentioned it. I have v9 in Win XP SP3 and v10 in Win 7. — Vaggelis_Z, Oct 27 '15 at 13:10
If memory serves, it's within the hidden AppData folder in your user directory. Also, see this. — J. M.'s missing motivation, Oct 27 '15 at 13:19
@J.M. Do you mean here: C:\Documents and Settings\ZorinCorp\Application Data\Mathematica? If so, there are several init.m files in the sub-folders. — Vaggelis_Z, Oct 27 '15 at 13:24
I said your user directory; C:\Users\loginname\AppData, or Application Data, or whatever that folder's called these days. — J. M.'s missing motivation, Oct 27 '15 at 13:27
Then in that case, it's that folder you mentioned earlier; look up the init.m within a "Kernel" folder. — J. M.'s missing motivation, Oct 27 '15 at 13:32
@J.M. The init.m file in the "Kernel" folder contains only one line `(** User Mathematica initialization file **) which is commented. — Vaggelis_Z, Oct 27 '15 at 13:35
@Now when I start the program a sound is played (not the original v4 welcome sound) but with a short time delay. Can I remove this time delay? — Vaggelis_Z, Oct 27 '15 at 13:44
@J.M. According to documentation in RunScheduledTask[task, {0.25}] the 0.25 defines the time delay. However if I set the value lower than 0.20 then when you open the program the sound is not played, while a second notebook opens. — Vaggelis_Z, Oct 27 '15 at 13:59
Then, I'm not sure how to proceed further. I suggest that you edit your question with these additionals. — J. M.'s missing motivation, Oct 27 '15 at 14:13

score 11 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 26 '15 at 18:13

11

There was a symbol called StartupSound. You could switch it on via the command:

SetOptions[$FrontEnd, StartupSound -> True]

But according to Wolfram Reference it is no longer available.

answered Oct 26 '15 at 18:13

user153012

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10

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It was removed in version 8. – Oleksandr R. Oct 26 '15 at 19:13

score 6 · Answer 2 · edited Aug 11 '16 at 09:32

6

I've upload the sound from Mathematica here, you can now save it and have Mathematica play it in your init.m, hope this helps you.

edited Aug 11 '16 at 09:32

István Zachar

47,032
20
143
291

answered Aug 11 '16 at 06:19

Khalid Sadouk

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1
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This is a dead link. – Anm Aug 04 '23 at 14:52

Welcome sound in Mathematica

2 Answers2