Playhead.

(It's like Cursor, but for Ableton Live)

An AI collaborator that lives inside your session — reads your clips, understands your intent, and iterates with you in plain language.

Get Playhead See how it works

Ableton Live · Max for Live · Claude AI

Stateful conversation

Reads your clips

Iterate in plain language

Drum patterns

Melodic generation

Create mode

Iterate mode

Plan mode

Native to Ableton

Max for Live

Stateful conversation

Reads your clips

Iterate in plain language

Drum patterns

Melodic generation

Create mode

Iterate mode

Plan mode

Native to Ableton

Max for Live

The difference

It knows what's in your session

Other tools give you a prompt box. Playhead reads your open clip, understands the context — tempo, key, what's already written — and responds accordingly. Ask it to add a snare on every offbeat and it adds one to your pattern, not a generic one.

Playhead iterate

You

Let's make a nice 2-step shuffle with skippy swung hats and kicks

Playhead

Generated 24 notes (2 unique pitches)

You

This is cool! Now add a snare, and an open hat on every single off beat, like house

Playhead

Added snare on 2 and 4, open hats on every 8th note offbeat. Updated your pattern — 38 notes total.

describe what you want...

Send

How it works

Install the Pack

Double-click the .alp file. Ableton installs everything automatically — no manual file copying, no setup scripts.

Drop it on a MIDI track

Playhead lives as a Max MIDI Effect. It reads your session's tempo, time signature, and the clip open in your piano roll.

Have a conversation

Describe what you want in plain language. Iterate, refine, plan. The AI understands what you've already written and builds on it.

What makes it different

⟳

Stateful conversation

Full conversation history. Playhead remembers everything you've said in the session — follow-up instructions actually work.

◈

Reads your clips

In iterate mode, Playhead reads the notes in your open piano roll before responding. It modifies your pattern, not a generic one.

◎

Three modes

Create generates new clips. Iterate edits what's there. Plan is a pure conversation mode for music theory and arrangement ideas.

⬡

Native to Ableton

Built as a Max MIDI Effect — not a VST wrapper. It has direct Live API access. Tempo, time signature, clip slots sync automatically.

Pricing

Simple. No surprises.

Own it once, or let us handle the API.

Pay what you want

Free

forever · bring your own API key

Full Ableton Pack (.alp)
All three modes
Lifetime updates
Your own Anthropic API key required

Get Playhead →

Pro — Coming soon

$12

per month · managed API included

Everything in the free version
No API key needed — we handle it
Generous monthly quota
Priority access to new features

You're on the list. We'll email you when Pro is ready.

FAQ

Common questions

Before you buy.

What does it actually cost me to use Playhead?

With the free version (BYOK), you only pay Anthropic for what you use — typically a few cents per session. Anthropic gives new accounts free credit, so you can try it without spending anything. The Pro tier (coming soon) bundles the API into a flat monthly subscription.

What can it actually generate?

MIDI: drum patterns, basslines, melodies, chord progressions, leads, pads. Built-in conventions for house, hip-hop, trap, DnB, jazz, funk, and more — but it'll adapt to whatever genre or feel you describe in plain English.

What can't it do?

It only writes MIDI notes — no audio rendering, no sound design, no changing your synth or effect parameters. It also only knows about the track it's installed on, not the rest of your session.

Will my prompts or music be used to train AI?

No. Playhead uses Anthropic's API, which (per their commercial terms) does not train on your data. This is different from their consumer Claude.ai product. And your API key lives only on your machine — nothing is ever sent to me.

Which Ableton version do I need?

Live 11 or 12, with Max for Live (free with Suite, available as an add-on for Standard). Built and tested on macOS; Windows should work since Max for Live is cross-platform, but isn't officially verified yet.

Can I get a refund?

Yes — Gumroad's 30-day money-back guarantee applies. No questions asked.