diff --git a/cmlreaders/base_reader.py b/cmlreaders/base_reader.py
index 08f4c49..9a6da5d 100644
--- a/cmlreaders/base_reader.py
+++ b/cmlreaders/base_reader.py
@@ -148,6 +148,7 @@ class BaseCMLReader(object, metaclass=_MetaReader):
             Subject code to use; required when we need to determine the protocol
         experiment
         session
+        data_type
 
         """
         if subject is None:
diff --git a/cmlreaders/readers/eeg.py b/cmlreaders/readers/eeg.py
index 0c8dd9b..727e617 100644
--- a/cmlreaders/readers/eeg.py
+++ b/cmlreaders/readers/eeg.py
@@ -102,14 +102,49 @@ class BaseEEGReader(ABC):
         self.epochs = epochs
         self.scheme = scheme
 
-        self._unique_contacts = np.union1d(
-            self.scheme["contact_1"],
-            self.scheme["contact_2"]
-        ) if self.scheme is not None else None
+        try:
+            if self.scheme_type == "contacts":
+                self._unique_contacts = self.scheme.contact.unique()
+            elif self.scheme_type == "pairs":
+                self._unique_contacts = np.union1d(
+                    self.scheme["contact_1"],
+                    self.scheme["contact_2"]
+                )
+            else:
+                self._unique_contacts = None
+        except KeyError:
+            self._unique_contacts = None
 
         # in cases where we can't rereference, this will get changed to False
         self.rereferencing_possible = True
 
+    @property
+    def scheme_type(self) -> Union[str, None]:
+        """Returns "contacts" when the input scheme is in the form of monopolar
+        contacts and "pairs" when bipolar.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        The scheme type or ``None`` is no scheme was specified.
+
+        Raises
+        ------
+        KeyError
+            When the passed scheme doesn't include any of the following keys:
+            ``contact_1``, ``contact_2``, ``contact``
+
+        """
+        if self.scheme is None:
+            return None
+
+        if "contact_1" in self.scheme and "contact_2" in self.scheme:
+            return "pairs"
+        elif "contact" in self.scheme:
+            return "contacts"
+        else:
+            raise KeyError("The passed scheme appears to be neither contacts "
+                           "nor pairs")
+
     def include_contact(self, contact_num: int):
         """Filter to determine if we need to include a contact number when
         reading data.
@@ -126,7 +161,7 @@ class BaseEEGReader(ABC):
 
     def rereference(self, data: np.ndarray,
                     contacts: List[int]) -> Tuple[np.ndarray, List[str]]:
-        """Attempt to rereference the EEG data using the specified scheme.
+        """Rereference and/or select a subset of raw channels.
 
         Parameters
         ----------
@@ -154,15 +189,22 @@ class BaseEEGReader(ABC):
             for i, c in enumerate(contacts)
         }
 
-        c1 = [contact_to_index[c] for c in self.scheme["contact_1"]
-              if c in contact_to_index]
-        c2 = [contact_to_index[c] for c in self.scheme["contact_2"]
-              if c in contact_to_index]
+        if self.scheme_type == "pairs":
+            c1 = [contact_to_index[c] for c in self.scheme["contact_1"]
+                  if c in contact_to_index]
+            c2 = [contact_to_index[c] for c in self.scheme["contact_2"]
+                  if c in contact_to_index]
 
-        reref = np.array(
-            [data[i, c1, :] - data[i, c2, :] for i in range(data.shape[0])]
-        )
-        return reref, self.scheme["label"].tolist()
+            reref = np.array(
+                [data[i, c1, :] - data[i, c2, :] for i in range(data.shape[0])]
+            )
+            return reref, self.scheme["label"].tolist()
+        else:
+            channels = [contact_to_index[c] for c in self.scheme["contact"]]
+            subset = np.array(
+                [data[i, channels, :] for i in range(data.shape[0])]
+            )
+            return subset, self.scheme["label"].tolist()
 
 
 class NumpyEEGReader(BaseEEGReader):
@@ -261,7 +303,7 @@ class RamulatorHDF5Reader(BaseEEGReader):
         passed scheme or if rereferencing is even possible in the first place.
 
         """
-        if self.rereferencing_possible:
+        if self.rereferencing_possible or self.scheme_type == "contacts":
             return BaseEEGReader.rereference(self, data, contacts)
 
         with h5py.File(self.filename, 'r') as hfile:

contacts/pairs scheme input
I'm still getting a bit of a handle how to use cmlreaders to load eeg vs using PTSA, and I have some questions about the `scheme` input. 

 I see that if you enter a set of pairs, the code will automatically rereference the data, and the `channels` parameter will be defined by the pairs `label` column. However, is there a way to simply load a specific non-bipolar channel? In the PTSA eeg functions, as well as the old matlab eeg_toolbox, you could enter an arbitrary channel number and load that data. 

Also, if you don't enter a scheme, the `channels` parameter is just a list of incremented channel numbers, instead of the label from the json file. I guess another way of summarizing what I'm asking is, given that you can load pairs.json and pass those as a scheme to `load_eeg`, could we similarly load contacts.json, filter it to any subset, and pass those in as a scheme?
diff --git a/cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py b/cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py
index a870afa..acfd8fd 100644
--- a/cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py
+++ b/cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py
@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@ from cmlreaders.test.utils import patched_cmlreader
 from cmlreaders.warnings import MissingChannelsWarning
 
 
+class DummyReader(BaseEEGReader):
+    def read(self):
+        return
+
+
 @pytest.fixture
 def events():
     with patched_cmlreader():
@@ -51,18 +56,18 @@ class TestEEGMetaReader:
 
 
 class TestBaseEEGReader:
+    @staticmethod
+    def make_reader(scheme=None):
+        return DummyReader("", np.int16, [(0, None)], scheme=scheme)
+
     @pytest.mark.parametrize("use_scheme", [True, False])
     def test_include_contact(self, use_scheme):
-        class DummyReader(BaseEEGReader):
-            def read(self):
-                return
-
         scheme = pd.DataFrame({
             "contact_1": list(range(1, 10)),
             "contact_2": list(range(2, 11)),
         }) if use_scheme else None
 
-        reader = DummyReader("", np.int16, [(0, None)], scheme=scheme)
+        reader = self.make_reader(scheme)
 
         if use_scheme:
             assert len(reader._unique_contacts) == 10
@@ -73,6 +78,28 @@ class TestBaseEEGReader:
             else:
                 assert not reader.include_contact(i)
 
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("filename,expected", [
+        (resource_filename("cmlreaders.test.data", "contacts.json"), "contacts"),
+        (resource_filename("cmlreaders.test.data", "pairs.json"), "pairs"),
+        ("", None)
+    ])
+    def test_scheme_type(self, filename, expected):
+        if len(filename):
+            scheme = MontageReader.fromfile(filename, data_type=expected)
+        else:
+            scheme = pd.DataFrame({"foo": [1, 2, 3]})
+
+        reader = self.make_reader(scheme)
+
+        if expected is None:
+            with pytest.raises(KeyError):
+                _ = reader.scheme_type  # noqa
+
+            reader = self.make_reader()
+            assert reader.scheme_type is None
+        else:
+            assert reader.scheme_type == expected
+
 
 class TestFileReaders:
     def get_finder(self, subject, experiment, session, rootdir):
@@ -244,12 +271,14 @@ class TestEEGReader:
         with pytest.raises(ErrorType):
             reader.load_eeg(events=word_events)
 
-    @pytest.mark.parametrize("subject,reref_possible,index,channel", [
-        ("R1384J", False, 43, "LS12-LS1"),
-        ("R1111M", True, 43, "LPOG23-LPOG31"),
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("subject,scheme_type,reref_possible,index,channel", [
+        ("R1384J", "pairs", False, 43, "LS12-LS1"),
+        ("R1111M", "pairs", True, 43, "LPOG23-LPOG31"),
+        ("R1111M", "contacts", True, 43, "LPOG44"),
+        ("R1286J", "contacts", True, 43, "LJ16")
     ])
-    def test_rereference(self, subject, reref_possible, index, channel,
-                         rhino_root):
+    def test_rereference(self, subject, scheme_type, reref_possible, index,
+                         channel, rhino_root):
         reader = CMLReader(subject=subject, experiment='FR1', session=0,
                            rootdir=rhino_root)
         rate = reader.load("sources")["sample_rate"]
@@ -259,22 +288,28 @@ class TestEEGReader:
         rel_start, rel_stop = 0, 100
 
         expected_samples = int(rate * rel_stop / 1000)
-        scheme = reader.load('pairs')
+        scheme = reader.load(scheme_type)
 
         load_eeg = partial(reader.load_eeg, events=events, rel_start=rel_start,
                            rel_stop=rel_stop)
 
-        if reref_possible:
-            data = load_eeg()
-            assert data.shape == (1, 100, expected_samples)
+        if scheme_type == "pairs":
+            if reref_possible:
+                data = load_eeg()
+                assert data.shape == (1, 100, expected_samples)
+                data = load_eeg(scheme=scheme)
+                assert data.shape == (1, 141, expected_samples)
+                assert data.channels[index] == channel
+            else:
+                data_noreref = load_eeg()
+                data_reref = load_eeg(scheme=scheme)
+                assert_equal(data_noreref.data, data_reref.data)
+                assert data_reref.channels[index] == channel
+        else:
             data = load_eeg(scheme=scheme)
-            assert data.shape == (1, 141, expected_samples)
+            count = 100 if subject == "R1111M" else 124
+            assert data.shape == (1, count, expected_samples)
             assert data.channels[index] == channel
-        else:
-            data_noreref = load_eeg()
-            data_reref = load_eeg(scheme=scheme)
-            assert_equal(data_noreref.data, data_reref.data)
-            assert data_reref.channels[index] == channel
 
     @pytest.mark.rhino
     @pytest.mark.parametrize("subject,region_key,region_name,expected_channels,tlen", [

pip install -e .[dev]
parse_log_pytest
requirements.txt
apt-get update apt-get install -y gcc
3.6
requirements.txt
pytest --no-header -rA --tb=line --color=no -p no:cacheprovider -W ignore::DeprecationWarning
alabaster==0.7.13
async-generator==1.10
attrs==22.2.0
Babel==2.11.0
bleach==4.1.0
cached-property==1.5.2
certifi==2021.5.30
charset-normalizer==2.0.12
-e git+https://github.com/pennmem/cmlreaders.git@355bb312d51b4429738ea491b7cfea4d2fec490c#egg=cmlreaders
codecov==2.1.13
coverage==6.2
cycler==0.11.0
decorator==5.1.1
defusedxml==0.7.1
docutils==0.18.1
entrypoints==0.4
flake8==3.9.2
h5py==3.1.0
idna==3.10
imagesize==1.4.1
importlib-metadata==4.8.3
iniconfig==1.1.1
ipython-genutils==0.2.0
Jinja2==3.0.3
jsonschema==3.2.0
jupyter-client==7.1.2
jupyter-core==4.9.2
jupyterlab-pygments==0.1.2
kiwisolver==1.3.1
MarkupSafe==2.0.1
matplotlib==3.3.4
mccabe==0.6.1
mistune==0.8.4
mne==0.23.4
nbclient==0.5.9
nbconvert==6.0.7
nbformat==5.1.3
nbsphinx==0.8.8
nest-asyncio==1.6.0
numpy==1.19.5
packaging==21.3
pandas==1.1.5
pandocfilters==1.5.1
Pillow==8.4.0
pluggy==1.0.0
py==1.11.0
pycodestyle==2.7.0
pyflakes==2.3.1
Pygments==2.14.0
pyparsing==3.1.4
pyrsistent==0.18.0
pytest==7.0.1
pytest-cov==4.0.0
python-dateutil==2.9.0.post0
pytz==2025.2
pyzmq==25.1.2
requests==2.27.1
scipy==1.5.4
six==1.17.0
snowballstemmer==2.2.0
Sphinx==5.3.0
sphinx-rtd-theme==2.0.0
sphinxcontrib-applehelp==1.0.2
sphinxcontrib-devhelp==1.0.2
sphinxcontrib-htmlhelp==2.0.0
sphinxcontrib-jquery==4.1
sphinxcontrib-jsmath==1.0.1
sphinxcontrib-qthelp==1.0.3
sphinxcontrib-serializinghtml==1.1.5
testpath==0.6.0
tomli==1.2.3
tornado==6.1
traitlets==4.3.3
typing_extensions==4.1.1
urllib3==1.26.20
webencodings==0.5.1
zipp==3.6.0

name: cmlreaders
channels:
  - defaults
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r
  - conda-forge
dependencies:
  - _libgcc_mutex=0.1=main
  - _openmp_mutex=5.1=1_gnu
  - ca-certificates=2025.2.25=h06a4308_0
  - certifi=2021.5.30=py36h06a4308_0
  - ld_impl_linux-64=2.40=h12ee557_0
  - libffi=3.3=he6710b0_2
  - libgcc-ng=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - libgomp=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - libstdcxx-ng=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - ncurses=6.4=h6a678d5_0
  - openssl=1.1.1w=h7f8727e_0
  - pip=21.2.2=py36h06a4308_0
  - python=3.6.13=h12debd9_1
  - readline=8.2=h5eee18b_0
  - setuptools=58.0.4=py36h06a4308_0
  - sqlite=3.45.3=h5eee18b_0
  - tk=8.6.14=h39e8969_0
  - wheel=0.37.1=pyhd3eb1b0_0
  - xz=5.6.4=h5eee18b_1
  - zlib=1.2.13=h5eee18b_1
  - pip:
      - alabaster==0.7.13
      - async-generator==1.10
      - attrs==22.2.0
      - babel==2.11.0
      - bleach==4.1.0
      - cached-property==1.5.2
      - charset-normalizer==2.0.12
      - codecov==2.1.13
      - coverage==6.2
      - cycler==0.11.0
      - decorator==5.1.1
      - defusedxml==0.7.1
      - docutils==0.18.1
      - entrypoints==0.4
      - flake8==3.9.2
      - h5py==3.1.0
      - idna==3.10
      - imagesize==1.4.1
      - importlib-metadata==4.8.3
      - iniconfig==1.1.1
      - ipython-genutils==0.2.0
      - jinja2==3.0.3
      - jsonschema==3.2.0
      - jupyter-client==7.1.2
      - jupyter-core==4.9.2
      - jupyterlab-pygments==0.1.2
      - kiwisolver==1.3.1
      - markupsafe==2.0.1
      - matplotlib==3.3.4
      - mccabe==0.6.1
      - mistune==0.8.4
      - mne==0.23.4
      - nbclient==0.5.9
      - nbconvert==6.0.7
      - nbformat==5.1.3
      - nbsphinx==0.8.8
      - nest-asyncio==1.6.0
      - numpy==1.19.5
      - packaging==21.3
      - pandas==1.1.5
      - pandocfilters==1.5.1
      - pillow==8.4.0
      - pluggy==1.0.0
      - py==1.11.0
      - pycodestyle==2.7.0
      - pyflakes==2.3.1
      - pygments==2.14.0
      - pyparsing==3.1.4
      - pyrsistent==0.18.0
      - pytest==7.0.1
      - pytest-cov==4.0.0
      - python-dateutil==2.9.0.post0
      - pytz==2025.2
      - pyzmq==25.1.2
      - requests==2.27.1
      - scipy==1.5.4
      - six==1.17.0
      - snowballstemmer==2.2.0
      - sphinx==5.3.0
      - sphinx-rtd-theme==2.0.0
      - sphinxcontrib-applehelp==1.0.2
      - sphinxcontrib-devhelp==1.0.2
      - sphinxcontrib-htmlhelp==2.0.0
      - sphinxcontrib-jquery==4.1
      - sphinxcontrib-jsmath==1.0.1
      - sphinxcontrib-qthelp==1.0.3
      - sphinxcontrib-serializinghtml==1.1.5
      - testpath==0.6.0
      - tomli==1.2.3
      - tornado==6.1
      - traitlets==4.3.3
      - typing-extensions==4.1.1
      - urllib3==1.26.20
      - webencodings==0.5.1
      - zipp==3.6.0
prefix: /opt/conda/envs/cmlreaders

cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestBaseEEGReader::test_scheme_type[/cmlreaders/cmlreaders/test/data/contacts.json-contacts] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestBaseEEGReader::test_scheme_type[/cmlreaders/cmlreaders/test/data/pairs.json-pairs] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestBaseEEGReader::test_scheme_type[-None]
cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestFileReaders::test_split_eeg_reader cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestFileReaders::test_split_eeg_reader_missing_contacts cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestFileReaders::test_ramulator_hdf5_reader_rhino[R1345D-FR1-0] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestFileReaders::test_ramulator_hdf5_reader_rhino[R1363T-FR1-0] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestFileReaders::test_ramulator_hdf5_reader_rhino[R1392N-PAL1-0] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestFileReaders::test_ramulator_hdf5_reader cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestFileReaders::test_ramulator_hdf5_rereference cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_eeg_reader[R1298E-87-CH88] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_eeg_reader[R1387E-13-CH14] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_read_whole_session[R1161E] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_eeg_reader_with_events[R1161E] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_eeg_reader_with_events[R1387E] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_rereference[R1384J-pairs-False-43-LS12-LS1] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_rereference[R1111M-pairs-True-43-LPOG23-LPOG31] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_rereference[R1111M-contacts-True-43-LPOG44] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_rereference[R1286J-contacts-True-43-LJ16] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_filter_channels[R1384J-ind.region-insula-10-200] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_filter_channels[R1288P-ind.region-lateralorbitofrontal-5-200] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_filter_channels[R1111M-ind.region-middletemporal-18-100] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestRereference::test_rereference[RamulatorHDF5Reader-True] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestRereference::test_rereference[RamulatorHDF5Reader-False] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestLoadEEG::test_load_multisession[subjects0-experiments0] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestLoadEEG::test_load_multisession[subjects1-experiments1] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestLoadEEG::test_load_multisession[subjects2-experiments2] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestLoadEEG::test_channel_discrepancies[R1387E-catFR5-0-120-125]
cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGMetaReader::test_load[R1389J-sources.json-int16-1641165-1000] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGMetaReader::test_load[TJ001-TJ001_pyFR_params.txt-int16-None-400.0] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestBaseEEGReader::test_include_contact[True] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestBaseEEGReader::test_include_contact[False] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestFileReaders::test_npy_reader cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_eeg_absolute[TJ001-TJ001_events.mat-expected_basenames0] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestEEGReader::test_eeg_absolute[R1389J-task_events.json-expected_basenames1] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestRereference::test_rereference[SplitEEGReader-True] cmlreaders/test/test_eeg.py::TestLoadEEG::test_load_with_empty_events
cmlreaders/readers/eeg.py cmlreaders/base_reader.py
cmlreaders/readers/eeg.py cmlreaders/base_reader.py