Lifoam

A styrofoam picnic cooler can make an excellent soundbox/soundboard/sound-radiating surface for strings. The instrument called Lifoam consists of a wooden frame supporting a bank of strings mounted in such a way that the strings can be lowered over an upside-down styro cooler to where they rest on the edge of the cooler. That edge, reinforced with a small rod of steel, serves as a bridge for the strings.This arrangement gives a nice stryo-sound, and, because of the efficient transmission from strings to styro, it’s reasonably loud. The sound is enhanced by the fact that the frame carrying the strings can be flexed to vary the pressure on the bridge and create a nice vibrato and variability in sound quality.