How about a playing style specifically for the purpose of playing more "realistically"?

[WHAT YOU SEE]
>play shawm badly
With a confident wink and a grin, you raise your shawm to your lips, puff up your cheeks and begin to play what surely must be a masterpiece of instrumental genius.

[WHAT OTHERS SEE]
You notice Heathyr making odd facial expressions as she raises her shawm to her lips. Suddenly, a terrible, piercing squeal erupts from her instrument as she begins to play.

[WHAT YOU SEE]
Your fingers fly up and down your shawm as you compose a masterful melody of notes you're certain nobody's ever thought to string together in the history of music.

[WHAT OTHERS SEE]
Heathyr's fingers fumble up and down her shawm chaotically, producing a horrendous cacophony of inharmonious notes that clearly don't belong in the same key, or perhaps even the same universe.

[WHAT YOU SEE]
Confidently blowing into your shawm with all your might, you raise your glorious melody to new heights, eliciting expressions of awe from all within earshot of your magnificent virtuosity.

[WHAT OTHERS SEE]
Just when you think it couldn't get any worse, Heathyr takes a deep breath and blows as hard as she can into her shawm, creating an ear-splitting shriek so profoundly horrendous that all within earshot gawk in exasperation.

...and so forth.

~ Heathyr and friends

I agree, Robert. But it seems like overhauling the instrument system would be a pretty major project, whereas simply adding another style--although it would entail quite a bit of writing--would be more realistic. Not that I want to limit our options, mind you. But given the resources available, and the ever-growing "to do" list on GMs' tables...I can't see a complete overhaul happening in this decade. My idea is more of a stopgap measure.

~ Heathyr and friends