Musical Instruments - simple vs. mechanical

I compare the musical instruments that my children and their friends use in the US, with what I used as a child in India.

My flute was a bamboo tube with a few holes in it; each finger movement covered or uncovered a hole. The Western flute is a sophisticated mechanical device with a large number of levers.

The shehani was an analog of the bamboo flute. Its Western equivalent, the oboe, seems as sophisticated as the western flute.

Clearly, the cost of producing a shehnai is much less than an oboe. And, there are fewer things to go wrong, and tune-up in the shehnai.

What does this mechanical sophistication, and increase in cost, do? Does it make it easier for the musician? Or, does it allow the production of better music? Or both?