This chapter considers the history of paper as a sonic material. While paper is most recognizable as a material for visual communication, it has also been a means for working with sound—as a mechanism for inscribing utterances, a programming environment for musical reproduction, a substrate for the visualization of vibrations, and even as an instrument in its own right. Beginning from a media archaeological investigation of paper’s use for the production, transmission, and storage of sound, and concluding with a case study of its history in the telephone system, this chapter demonstrates that paper—though a technically poor medium for the supply of sound—has frequently served this role. Arguing that this is less a function of suitability than its availability as a cheap and prodigious material, paper has nevertheless served a critical, if often temporary, role as an experimental pathway technology for the storage and transmission of sound.