@Dr-GO
I love your descriptions of those instruments, one of my aspirations is to own both a committee and a Harrelson, - amongst others but we cannot own them all and I suspect I have too many instruments already
I am totally with you on the merits of each of those very desirable instruments.
I feel that the unique tonalities of a shawm, a serpent a cornetto are quite different to instruments such as a modern trumpet a modern cornet flugel or tenor horn.
The way ancient instruments sound is not the way modern instruments sound, and that is not simply a result of the manner in which they are played, it is a mixture of the responsiveness of the instrument the way the notes articulate the softness and dynamics.
It is a little like the difference between a Piano Forte, and a Forte Piano. The Forte Piano responds differently to the Piano Forte.
The Piano Forte has an iron frame robust strings and felt covered hammers, the Forte Piano has a wooden frame thin harpsichord strings and leather covered hammers.
These differences make the two instruments sound quite different and yet they are both pianos.
To abandon the Forte Piano to history and never play it is to lose the unique sound of the Forte Piano.
Equally the vihuella and the guitar sound quite different but I think there is a case for playing a vihuella in a small ensemble in a modest venue.
I believe there is a case for preserving all instruments that have and offer a unique tonal palette as ROWUK puts it.
When I select a trumpet or cornet for a gig I also select the mouthpiece. I match the mouthpiece and the instrument to the music and what I am attempting to present in my performance.
We can mold our tone and our sound from the huge palette available to us.
In brass instruments I have broadly speaking 168 choices of tonal palette at my fingertips.
That means I can be very expressive in a wide range of compositions.
Keeping the ancient instruments and using them simply adds more options to our palette.
I can for example make a trumpet sound like a cornet, simply by manipulating my tone, but it makes sense to play on a cornet when I want to sound like a cornet and save the effort.
If you want to sound like you are playing a shawm get a shawm.
On the other hand if you do not value the ancient tone or sound then play exclusively on modern gear.