Max for Live device needed: bar + quarter-note accurate track arm/disarm (no overlap, Live API safe)

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for help building a reliable Max for Live device that can arm and disarm Ableton Live tracks at specific musical times, expressed in bars and quarter notes, without ever allowing two tracks to be armed at the same time.

This is for live performance use, so stability is critical.

What I’m trying to achieve

I want to define events like:

• Arm Track 8 at Bar 5, Beat 3

• Disarm Track 8 at Bar 7, Beat 1

• Arm Track 9 at Bar 7, Beat 1

All timing should be musical (bar + quarter-note), not milliseconds or floating values.

Quarter-note resolution is sufficient for now.

The key requirement is that no two tracks may ever be armed simultaneously, even for a few milliseconds. Overlapping armed tracks cause audible artefacts (e.g. guitar input bleeding, clicks, or loaders sounding), which is unacceptable on stage.

Why this needs a custom solution

I’ve already tried several common approaches:

• Using clip names or clip-trigger logic

• Using existing MIDI / controller scripts

• Using AIC or similar devices

All of these occasionally fail under load or ignore messages, or briefly allow two tracks to be armed at once.

The goal is a clean Live API–based solution that:

• Explicitly disarms before arming

• Is deterministic

• Does not rely on fragile clip metadata or race conditions

Current status

I’ve already built parts of a prototype in Max for Live:

• I can reliably retrieve:

  • current song time

  • time signature numerator and denominator

• I can convert song time to bar and beat

• I can arm and disarm tracks individually via live.path → live.object

However, combining all of this into a robust bar/beat scheduler that stays stable in performance has proven harder than expected, and I’d prefer to hand this off to someone experienced rather than keep fighting edge cases.

What I’m looking for

Ideally:

• A Max for Live MIDI or Audio device

• A simple UI where I can define:

  • target track

  • bar number

  • quarter-note (1–4, assuming 4/4 for now)

  • arm or disarm action

• Internally uses Live API safely

• Guarantees no overlapping armed tracks

• Designed with live performance reliability in mind

I don’t need anything visually fancy. I care about correctness and stability, not aesthetics.

Compensation

I’m happy to pay for help with this, either:

• to finish my existing device, or

• to build a clean, minimal version from scratch

If you’re interested, feel free to reply here or DM me.

Thanks in advance — I really appreciate any guidance or offers of help.