Customer Reviews

Sounds of the Orchestra Cartridge for Music Blocks by Neurosmith

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I orginally bought the Music Blocks without any of the extra cartridges to see how the product really performed. It's fantastic and the reviews on Amazon.com are quite accurate. I am a great fan of Motzart and was sure that "Motzart's Night Music" was going to be Neurosmith's best cartridge. Nevertheless, I eventually purchased the other two as well (you will too). "Rythms of the World" is nice, but "Sounds of the Orchestra" is incredible. The "Sounds of the Orchestra" is very playful and keeps along the classical music lines that I personally enjoy (hey, I have to listen to it a lot too). If you are purchasing Music Blocks for the first time, save yourself the extra "trip" and at the very least purchase the "Sounds of the Orchestra" cartridge too -- you won't be disappointed.

We own three of the music blocks cassettes: the Mozart one that comes with the blocks, the Rhythms of the World cartridge and the Orchestra cartridge.

If I could choose only one cartridge to supplement the original one, I would probably pick the Rhythms cartridge because it is something strikingly different from the classical music of the Mozart cartridge. However, I do think the Orchestra cartridge is a good one. In fact, I think it is superior to the Mozart's Night Music cartridge.

The Orchestra cartridge is a more flexible than the Mozart one which seems to favor a particular order of block arrangment. Although the Orchestra cassette still sounds "best" in one or two particular orders, it does have more than one "right" way to order the blocks. Also, it is not as familiar of a tune as Mozart's Night Music, so you won't tire of it as easily.

I also like the way that each block features a part of a traditional orchestra: trumpets, strings, percussion, etc. This definitely makes children notice how the tone of a piece of music is affected by the choice of instrument. I think it's a good way to introduce the idea of parts forming a harmonious whole and some of the basic concepts behind an orchestra.

Our family has never enjoyed a toy as much as this one. It is very well made, user friendly for all ages but most of all fun! It's been over 2 months since Christmas, when my 3 children (ages 6, 3 and 17 months) opened it. I can honestly say it is the only toy still played with every day by all 3. The 6 yr. old likes to organize the blocks. The 3 yr. old likes to make the music sound different. The baby just loves to turn it on for her dancing, humming and listening pleasure. We make up our own games by taking away a block and guessing what color or what music sequence is missing. So, it is as educational as you want to make it. We've been limited to Mozart's Night Music since Christmas and are just beginning with Sounds of the Orchestra. I can see the sequence beginning all over again. All 3 just love it. I do too. It won't be long before we get Rythms of the World as well.

While I agree with the previous reviews in how enjoyable the 'Sounds of the Orchestra' and "Mozart's Night Music' are I have to say for sheer fun you cannot top the 'Mary Poppins' cartridge. My two year old daughter squeals with laughter at each configuration of "Supercalifragilistic..." we create. The male and female leads are great and the tunes bring back wonderful memories from the first movie I ever saw. It is the most creative and engaging toy we have come across.

This is a great toy, so great, in fact, that my two children, ages 18 months and 3 years, fight over it to the extent that it usually ends up being confiscated! However, it is fun for my three year old to know that he decides which music plays, based upon the chosen shape. He usually takes it to bed with him, and sits up, playing it until he falls asleep. As I have attempted to instill a love of classical music in both my children since they before their birth, they both love making the music, and distinguishing between the orchestra sounds.

This product may be great but we have no way of knowing since the model of Music Block that we bought cannot use cartridges. Get the Blocks FIRST and make sure they can use cartridges before spending the money.