Nice tutorial, especially the build-up makes it easy to follow.

For getting rid of some of the mechanic feeling you mentioned, you can also use Cubase's "Midi Modifier" and add some randomness to the velocity. That can lead to some interesting result and requires less manual tinkering.
(https://ask.audio/articles/advanced-midi-editing-using-cubases-midi-modifiers gives a good overview.)

I'm sure the other software sequencer have a similar tool.