In the field of parapsychology, Clairaudience (from late 17th century French clair (clear) & audience [hearing]) is a form of extra-sensory perception wherein a person acquires information by paranormal auditory means.
Clairaudience may refer not to actual perception of sound, but may instead indicate impressions of the "inner mental ear" similar to the way many people think words without having auditory impressions.
But it may also refer to actual perception of sounds such as voices, tones, or noises which are not apparent to other humans or to recording equipment.
Clairaudience may be positively distinguished from the voices heard by the mentally ill when it reveals information unavailable to the clairaudient person by normal means (including cold reading or other magic tricks), and thus may be termed "psychic" or paranormal.
Clairaudience is also the title of a 2005 electronic music composition by Canadian composer Pat McNeil.