audioreactivity in blender

Hi i tried to follow this tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yA49cwE_V4- its just a simple tutorial about making an audioreactive orb, but instead i tried to make a bird audioreactive- its feathers were made of petal brush. However, when i subdivided petal brush, there were too many faces, and the fps is too slow. I was wondering if it would be more advisable to try making a different brush audioreactive? such as one of the hull brushes? thank you!