Real quick:  THANK YOU BandLab for reviving Sonar/CbB!!  Having a couple of the toip engineers from Cakwalk on board sold me to dl it and start using it! 

OK, my issue:  I am at a loss to understand the "rules" for "takes" on a track.  I can't find any info on how to best use this feature.  Right now, I use it to loop a recording to take various takes, ideally to get a great take, but also to use various takes to make a great one...  The only way i know how to make the correct "take" play is to make a blank take (at the "top" of the takes) and copy whatever takes I would like to that take, and then "solo" that take... but usually a different take is always "colorized" as opposed to grey...   And sometimes it still doesn't play...  I have GOT to be doing it wrong...  HELP!!

TIA
- Patrick

This method is called speed comping.  You do not need to create an empty take and copy things to it if you do not want to.
 
See
https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR%20X3&language=3&help=Arranging.41.html
 
 

Also, in case the documentation isn't clear.  Use the smart tool (star) and you swipe across the area of the take you want. This promotes that area to be the the take that plays in that time region.  If you want to try another take in that same time region click on it with the smart tool towards the bottom and it will become the take that is audible.  
 
After you swipe and split the takes in this fashion you can right click on the track waveform with the takes expanded and bounce down the individual takes to one take which will create a take consisting of all your selected portions of the original takes and then mute the original ones.

It's probably easier to see it in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyoWK1j1Zbg
 

embedding video is similar to embedding images. Instead of img tages, videos use tube tags and the "share" url from Youtube. The tube tags are in the full forum editor under SpecialPDGCode icon

Make sure to replace https with http in the share url https://youtu.be/vyoWK1j1Zbg
 
 

BRILLIANT!!!   Thank you guys for the very quick response!!