Unable to send out a midi note in Max for Live

Hello,

I am experienced with coding and with ableton. Using Max 8 (M4L) in Ableton Live Suite 11.

I found that with "noteout" I am able to make a sound with a midi instrument that is in the same track, but I do not "see" any midi notes playing on any of the channels (e.g. unable to make that midi note play an external instrument).

I have checked both Track and Sync for the In and Out of Max 1 and Max 2 in the MIDI preferences of Ableton.

I've tried a variety of M4L devices, all with the same issue.

I see in many tutorials that folks generally right click on the "noteout" in the Max Device, then select for example Max 1. There is no menu that shows up when I right click on "noteout".

Thanks for any insights you might have.

Best,

Ryan