In the last decades, the vast development of emerging technologies has transformed the ways people engage with music, expanding the affordances of music expression, creation, learning, and education. Music production software allows artists to create songs collaboratively in digital contexts, not necessarily being in physical contact. Likewise, many young people produce songs alone or with peers, constructing musical experiences through informal kinds of learning. Although several studies have focused on integrating technological-based activities in school music education, the research interest in conservatoire education is limited. The COVID-19 pandemic crisis and the need for an urgent shill to online educational environments revealed numerous problems concerning the use of technology. Both teachers and students faced difficulties to operate and effectively continue the studio lessons online. Some recognized the situation as a dead-end for conservatoire education, while others perceived it as a prompt for innovative and creative solutions. The present article discusses the findings of a pilot distance music-technological project with adolescents in conservatoire education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The primary aim was to investigate students' musical-technological experiences, the knowledge and skills they acquired, as well as the development of their musical creativity through collaborative DIY music production practices. In particular, our purpose was to develop a more nuanced understanding of how the students experienced their work and their learning using DAWs (Bandlab). The results support the view that merging traditional and online teaching-learning procedures in a hybrid approach can open new pathways in music education.
