Customer Reviews
Meet the Orchestra is great!!! 
2008-09-22
We first borrowed Meet the Orchestra for our grandson's visit when he was 18 mo. old and he was "glued" to it from beginning to end. We purchased it for his next visit two months later and he was again fasinated by it. It teaches each instrument by name and sound as they methodically work their way through the sections of the orchestra. Animated characters, children and adults are each shown with the instruments. Beyond just entertainment, it's very educational. We grandparents and parents give it a five star rating!
baby einstein 2008-08-02
SWIFT RECEIPT OF PRODUCT THAT WAS EXACTLY AS DESCIRBED BY SELLER. GOOD SALE - THIS SELLER IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
An Insult to Musicians and My Child's Intelligence 
2008-03-02
I am a professional composer with a Ph.D. in composition and have taught orchestration for many years at the college level. Not that any of this necessarily means anything, but I do take music-related DVDs that are supposed to educate my child very seriously.
You would think that a DVD entitled "Baby Einstein - Meet the Orchestra," would introduce REAL instruments to our children, right? WRONG. This is entirely (or almost entirely) synthesized and FAKE from beginning to end, and the sounds are 1980s quality (i.e., primitive), at best. This is not only infuriating and insulting to classical musicians and orchestras, but is also insulting to our collective intelligence. It sends the message that Disney and Buena Vista are lazy companies and their corporate bottom line is more important than our children's education. The composers they quote badly (Mozart, Bach, et al) and even Einstein himself (who played a real violin in his free time, by the way) would roll in their graves if they heard this.
Here are some of the flaws I find most annoying, in no particular order:
- When they show live instruments being played by real people, you hear synthesizers, not the people actually playing the instruments. They even do this at the beginning with an entire orchestra! Was this really necessary? They couldn't find young musicians who could play fairly well and tape them live? There are probably loads of kids who would have done it for free, or very little, not that Disney needs to skimp, which is all the more insulting.
- As mentioned by others, the animation is absolutely awful. The puppets are also utterly simplistic, like hand puppets I remember making in grade school. Maybe that's the point, I'm not sure. Jim Henson's Muppets, they are not. Even the puppets in Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem from the Muppet Show look more realistic than this.
- They introduce the woodwind section with a saxophone. What's up with that? Saxophones are not standard in most orchestras. They also show a drumset right at the beginning of the DVD. Is that to make the orchestra look cool?
- They include a recorder, another instrument almost NEVER found in orchestras, and follow the artificial recorder recording with a hurdy-gurdy sounding synth track that sounds nothing like recorders. And why is there no oboe? Very strange. Maybe they figure they'll leave out the oboe since that's a difficult instrument for young players to master. Great--teach our children to not strive to do something difficult and to settle for the easy route. Einstein would not be proud.
- Their representation of the percussion section is a joke. At one point, they show a cartoon playing a single timpani drum, but you hear two. To illustrate a tambourine, they show a RhythmTech, half-moon, headless tambourine, like the ones you see rock group back-up vocalists use. Sorry, but orchestral percussionists just don't use those. Many times, they show an Orff instrument as the xylophone, with one row of keys. And you also hear synth bells in the recording. The do finally show a marimba player, to their credit, albeit with what I think are extremely carefully synchronized synthesized marimba sounds (maybe the kid hit too many wrong notes?).
- I won't even go into how poorly they represent strings and how bad they sound. It's just plain awful. I'll leave that to the other reviewers here.
- As pointed out in other reviews, most of the performers are using poor technique. Surely, Disney could have teamed up with one of the many schools in this country with excellent music programs and found kids that could actually play well, so that our own children could have good role models.
As parents, you have to ask yourself: is it OK to teach your children to recognize the sounds of an orchestra by playing them artificial sounds, synchronized so they look like they are being played by real people? This is like teaching your child that a strawberry-flavored Jolly Rancher candy is a real strawberry.
As an aside, my wife is a professional violinist who plays on Broadway, and producers are always looking for ways to cut costs so they are gradually replacing live musicians with synthesizers (while charging the same or more for tickets, by the way). This may sound paranoid, but since many musicals and films are by Disney these days, I think this DVD is one of many efforts by Disney--whether overtly intentional or not--to brainwash our children into accepting artificial sounds as real, so that when they grow up, they won't know the difference, and so that children will also learn to like the Baby Einstein recordings that are synthesized. In one word, yuck!
To my mind, the only redeeming quality is the bright colors, which are very attractive to young children. Even with the bright colors and copious corporate branding, my two-year-old son, who normally sits through live classical performances and loves them, was bored after a few minutes and left the room to go read a book! I think that just about says it all right there.
If you love your children and want to give them the best education possible, stay away from this DVD. It is an insult to parents, children and classical musicians.
Baby Homer Simpson? DVDs not for babies even if "Einstein" is in the name... 2008-01-16
The name "Baby Einstein" lulls parents into thinking it's okay for their babies to watch t.v., but according to the American Academy of Pediatrics babies should NOT be exposed to television AT ALL before they're 2 years old! According to Time Magazine and Boston Globe's 8/8/07 article,
"...every hour spent daily watching programs such as 'Brainy Baby' or 'Baby Einstein' translated into six to eight fewer words in their vocabularies as compared with other children their age."
Brain wave activity in babies is actually slower when watching television than when SLEEPING!, and another study shows that for every hour of television a baby watches a day, their chances of an attention deficit disorder increases 10%. (Example, 5 hours a day = 50% greater chance of ADHD). I like William Sears' advice that "relationships, not things, make babies smarter".
The easiest way to make babies smarter? Just carry them around in a sling (you don't have to do anything else), because it is PROVEN to make them much smarter since they are relating to you physically, emotionally, verbally, and visually. If you're at all interested in what I have to say or don't know what a "sling" is or how to use one, see my Listmania list "Natural Parenting for Baby's First Year". If you don't want to hear it from me, just google "television and baby studies"!
not annoying 
2007-08-11
I like these videos -- they don't have a bunch of useless chatter, just soothing music and simple video pics.
Purposly screwed up!! 2007-06-06
A playful introduction to musical instruments and their sounds!
-- Exposes little ones to the sights and sounds of an orchestra
-- Features children playing musical instruments
At 12 months, babies can identify specific sounds, and they re also starting to match the sounds they hear with the objects that make them. Meet the OrchestraTM -- First Instruments presents your little "maestro" with a playful introduction to the sights and sounds of a real orchestra -- from the clashing of cymbals to the purring of the cello and everything in between! One of the greatest joys parents experience is the first time their child sings a song or picks up a musical toy and starts to play. Music appreciation begins early, and this resoundingly entertaining program encourages musical exploration with fun puppet shows, captivating real-world images and beautiful music by Beethoven, Brahms, Joplin, Haydn, Mozart and Strauss. It s a great way for you and your little one to start off on the right note!
DVD Features
-- Repeat play
-- Language tracks (Spanish, French and English)
-- Discovery cards
-- Toy chest
-- Maestro's recital
-- Guess the musical instrument
-- Puppet shows
-- About Little Einsteins (Available in French and English only)
Meet the Orchestra, Just Sensational 2007-06-03
Baby Einstein is a wonderful line of videos to help aid in your child's development. Get them off to a very good start with these videos, and this special one, Meet the Orchestra - First Instruments. Get them well on the way to a successful future now! Don't wait!
Boring to toddlers 
2007-03-09
My toddler loves Baby Einstein DVD's, but I have to agree with many of the other reviewers. Where are the puppets? And why are the kids in the DVD not actually playing the instruments?
My toddler finds this DVD very boring. The DVD is simply animated animals coming onstage with an instrument and then it cuts to clips of children with the instrument (but these kids aren't actually playing the instruments). There are hardly any puppets and the colors are not very visually stimulating.
I appreciate the thought of introducing the children to instruments but there are more creative ways to do so (and more accurate ways as well).
A BIG HIT! 2007-01-04
I purchased this DVD for my son who is a huge fan of Baby Einstein and music. I found it to be the perfect combination, although there are not too many puppets I found it very educational especially for music lovers. But there were a few instruments missing but to be honest I dont think most 2 year olds would notice!
Nannette
Yes, it really is that bad. 2006-11-23
I can forgive Baby Einstein for their 're-orchestrations' of previous videos. They don't sound terrible. But they didn't purport to be what this one does, and they didn't misuse electronics to this extent.
Instead of a child getting excited about music, he will end up indifferent, or worse. I discourage my son from watching this video. He much prefers listening to real orchestral recordings, anyway. He is learning the sounds of the instruments by listening to the different solos of Ravel's "Bolero" and the like.
Here we have proof of what music becomes when you replace real musicians with Samplers, Sequencers, and Synthesizers: boring. I challenge the Disney company and/or Baby Einstein to re-record the soundtrack, as originally arranged, but using a full group of real musicians instead of the 3 S's. Hear the difference for yourselves. Then, with a few tweaks, you will have a quality product. Please send me the new version of the DVD.
