In this quick tutorial, we’re going to use Audacity(https://www.audacityteam.org/download/), a free tool, to change the metadata of an audio file, and create a Metadata Puzzle!
What is Metadata?
Put simply… Metadata is data, relating to other data. In the case of this tutorial, for example… We are going to use an audio file as the host for our metadata. Normally, the metadata would be something explaining what the audio file’s contents are. An artist, album, etc. But we’re going to use it to embed a “secret passphrase.” So let’s get started!
Metadata in Audacity:
Using the audio file we generated in the spectrogram tutorial (Spectrogram Puzzle tutorial), we’re now going to open audacity back up and change the metadata, to include a secret passphrase. I’m using this audio file for continuity, but you can change the information on whatever audio you have. The process is the same.
In Audacity, go ahead and hit edit>metadata. This will bring up a new window with a bunch of text fields.
![](https://i0.wp.com/argcreator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image-5.png?resize=338%2C467&ssl=1)
![](https://i0.wp.com/argcreator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image-6.png?resize=587%2C515&ssl=1)
With this new window open, we have a bunch of metadata fields we can fill. Any one of these are capable of holding potential puzzle value information, but we’re going to go ahead and propagate some normal information, and then fill the genre/comments section with our passphrase. The reason we’re doing this is because the genre and comments section don’t always show up in most media players in ways we would notice immediately.
![](https://i0.wp.com/argcreator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image-7.png?resize=587%2C515&ssl=1)
With the new metadata created, all we have to do now is export the file. You will have to install the proper files to export mp3 from Audacity, so we’ll just export as wav. Now, you may notice as you’re exporting, Audacity pops the metadata window up again. From here, you should see your info in the text fields. Verify it’s correct, and complete the export process.
Now to check the information on the file, navigate to the file and right click>View Properties>Details and you should see something that looks like the image below, on a windows machine.
![](https://i0.wp.com/argcreator.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/image-8.png?resize=484%2C628&ssl=1)
Conclusion:
If everything shows up as intended… You’ve successfully edited your metadata and embedded a sneaky secret code into the audio file! This can be used for plenty of things. It’s an easy/beginner level puzzle, and works as an excellent low tech option for content.