Here is a video of a professional Renaissance recorder consort in lower voicings (the lowest I believe being contrabass) that shows how great they are. They do get a bad reputation because it’s easy to make them squeak really badly as a beginner (and especially as a young person with no musical training). They really are a great introductory instrument into early music though; you can get a plastic tenor for about $40 and it’ll be the same one professionals practice on regularly.
I got started in early music on modern guitar with a book of tabs, and it was a great way in. I later met up with a local group who pointed me towards some great resources, and I loved it so much that I wanted to go deeper by learning to play an actual period instrument. I did some research and talked to a bunch of people for advice on what to buy and finally picked one up and took some lessons at the beginning of the year. It’s a lot harder to get into than guitar, but it’s also incredibly rewarding.
I wholeheartedly agree!
One of the things out group does is play for dancers at reenactment events. The dance steps were recorded for a lot of the Renaissance period pieces, and it’s pretty incredible to be able to coordinate the tunes for the same dances from hundreds of years ago.
It really changes the atmosphere of an event to have music around; it’s a living connection to history.