First a little history. During the 1970s, I operated a small recording studio called Reel Sound Communications Company. The medium then was magnetic tape which I duplicated and mailed to radio stations. I bought an offset press to print labels for the tape reels and soon found myself also into graphic arts and typesetting.

I used to daydream and wonder, wasn't there some way to print sound on paper? How easy it would then be to copy and distribute recordings. Just hold the printed paper in front of some sort of scanner, and out would flow music. Neither I nor anyone else ever came up with a workable scheme. That was back when phonograph records were still the preferred way most people listened to music in their homes.

Forty years later. No more phonograph, no more magnetic tape. Now it's an iPod in our pockets, and music is purchased online. And, the newest wrinkle is cloud computing, where your record collection is somewhere else.

My idea is finally feasible, and the picture above is my paper phonograph record. It is a printed strip, two inches wide, that folds into a triangle, and I affectionately call them Prisms. One of the three faces has a URL (here in green ink) that you type into any Web browser, and the music plays automatically.

There is more. Merely point the camera lens of an iPhone or iPod touch at the QR Code (barcode), and the music plays without having to press any buttons. You can even point the device at the above photo. The iPhone app named easyScan is recommended.

Give it a try. Click here and print the PDF page that downloads. Follow the instructions, cut, and fold, and you can make your own Prism to display on your desk. One additional fold across the panel with the description, and it fits as a flat square inside your wallet.

To share the recording, e-mail the PDF file to a friend, and he receives it immediately. Other recordings in my growing library are listed below. Just click on the appropriate link to obtain the PDF file or immediately play the MP3 recording.

William Engstrom, phototelegrapher